Mission Statement

Agency Profile

Where To Find Us

Contact Information

Agency Profile

Since its incorporation in 1977, The Arc of the Glades (then known as The Glades Area Association for Retarded Citizens) has provided a broad range of services to address the needs of people with Intellectual and other developmental disabilities who live in western Palm Beach County. Services have adapted to meet emerging needs and changing opportunities. For example, The Arc of the Glades' Developmental Preschool was operated from 1977 until a Federal statutory change required public schools to meet this need in 1994, at which time the preschool was closed and The Arc advocated successfully for the inclusion of these children into the new Pre K-2 program. The agency's adult programs in the early years (Education, Training & Therapy, Adult Day Training, and Sheltered Workshop) operated within a conceptual framework of segregating the affected population at "Centers". Services are now focused on community-integrated services to the greatest degree possible and desired by the individual program participant.

The agency's programs and services evolved into a continuum of effort beginning with the Homebound Infant Intervention Program for infants and toddlers until three years of age (when the school board assumes its statutory role), and continuing as The Arc's programs help young adults leave the school system and find their places, to the degree they desire, in the everyday community. These programs for adults include Supported Living, Supported Employment and Community Inclusion, programs that assist individuals to become as independent and contributing a community member as they are capable of and wanting to be. In-house programs focus today on inclusion and consumer self-determination, with sheltered activities as stepping stones to the community.

In recent years the advent of federal welfare to work programs has impacted employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities who reside in the area. While greater Palm Beach County has historically enjoyed low unemployment compared to its small western municipalities, with entry level positions unfilled and available, the Glades area of western Palm Beach County continues to shrink, with high unemployment and disproportionate poverty. Greater numbers of candidates seek entry level positions. Greater competition for these positions requires greater supports from programs like The Arc's Community Inclusion Program, Simulated Work Project and Supported Employment program for individuals with disabilities to have the opportunity for independence and personal success.