Things have changed in the 61 years since the American Fork Training School was created to house Utah's mentally handicapped population.
The most recent change, however, is a new sign placed in front of the facility at 895 N. 900 East. The sign is there to announce that the training school is now called the Utah State Development Center.The name change was mandated by a bill from the Utah Legislature in 1991 and will be made official during a ceremony Thursday, Dec. 19, at 11 a.m.
"The name change is really a symbol of how we are changing as an agency," said center superintendent Mary Ellen Wilkinson.
"If you can count on anything, you can count on a continual shifting and change with this program. You can be sure that we won't remain static and that the changes are very closely related - it is with a purpose," Wilkinson said.
Most of the changes reflect a change in state statute that occurred in January. Center officials developed a five-year plan to reduce the resident population and to personalize and individualize the program in American Fork.By 1996 the center's current population of 412 clients will be reduced to 285. The support staff will also be reduced from 954 to 661 employees.
"It will have an economic impact on the community," Wilkinson said. The center is hoping to develop a long-range plan for the layoffs so employees can start planning for their futures. Numbers of clients and staff will be reduced by 12 percent each year until the goal is reached.
"(The layoffs) will permeate the entire staff," Wilkinson said. American Fork will be the community hardest hit by the layoffs. Almost all of the center's care givers come from American Fork.
The center also will reduce its number of resident school-age children. Under the new statutes, admission of individuals under 18 years old will be strongly discouraged and admission for children under the age of 6 will generally be denied. Exceptions will be made for children in special circumstances.
The children will instead be mainstreamed into their local schools with special education programs.
"Children should grow up in homes, not in an institution," said center program director Sue Geary.
Older clients will be moved into group homes or returned to their families. Some residents, however, have lived at the center most of their lives and don't want to leave.
"Most of the (clients) who have lived here for a long time came before community support agencies and before schools had to develop any programs. For years we were the only game in town," Geary said. "We now have an aging population."
The downsizing reflects national trends in care of the mentally handicapped, which focus on more individualized attention. The center maintains a ratio of 2.14 employees for each client, Wilkinson said.
Construction on the center began in 1929, and it opened for business in 1930. It is the largest agency in Utah State's Department of Human Services and is the state's only residential institution for people with mental retardation.