East Hampton could be home to a new day program for people with developmental disabilities. On Tuesday, Rise Life Services and People’s Arc of Suffolk will host an open house at East Hampton High School to introduce the concept, which would offer skill-building, community engagement, vocational support, and health and wellness activities.
Jennifer Elflein, a special education teacher with the life skills and school-to-work program at East Hampton High School, realized the dire need back in October when she went to look at day habilitation services with a student who had aged out of the high school’s offerings. The closest options were in Riverhead or Westhampton Beach.
“It’s either People’s Arc by Westhampton Beach or Rise Life Services in Riverhead, but it’s really Aquebogue,” she said. “There’s nothing for them here. They go from graduating from high school, where they’re with their peers, to almost nothing.”
The high school’s life skills program offers education -- not just in academic subjects, but also in day-to-day living, interpersonal, and career-oriented skills -- for students up to age 22. There are also after-school activities like unified basketball and bowling, and inclusion recreation. For many families, these are the only resources available on the East End. Once school is out for the summer or their children age out of the program at 22 years old, they’re left scrambling for places to go.
Lori Hubbard’s son, Jimmy Esposito, participated in East Hampton’s unified bowling and basketball programs and attended high school in Westhampton, but aged out this year. She is now looking for adult opportunities for him but cannot drive UpIsland from their home in Montauk every morning because she works. Suffolk County offers accessible transportation that is helpful for some people but is not appropriate for her son, who is nonverbal, uses a wheelchair, and requires supervision.
“For 16 years all of Jimmy’s needs were met through school and summer school. He got all of his services, he was constantly learning and growing and being challenged. And as a mom who has a 22-year-old who can’t be home alone, school was the backbone of my life, allowing me to work and occasionally have a day off to myself,” Ms. Hubbard said. “For a guy who has been so busy and loved and nurtured for 16 years through school it is so sad to think of him sitting home being bored and unchallenged.”
Last fall, Ms. Elflein reached out to local leaders about bringing a day habilitation program to East Hampton that would solve those problems, giving adults with special needs like Jimmy somewhere to go Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. She said East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight responded immediately and has been helping her identify appropriate locations in the area. The program would be covered by participants’ Medicaid benefits -- they would just need to take a bagged lunch. It would also create jobs in the community by hiring local instructors, who would also drive transit vans to pick up and drop off participants. Ms. Elflein calls it a win-win for everyone.
“If there was a program in East Hampton I would not have experienced all of the sleepless nights worrying about Jimmy’s future,” Ms. Hubbard said. “A program in East Hampton would provide a great service to the entire special community on the East End. And there are a lot more of us than you think.”
Austin Miller, 20, is also part of that special community. A popular member of the life skills program, he is easily recognizable at Bonac Brew -- the high school store and cafe -- or on the unified basketball court, often wearing his favorite fedora. Austin helped the cafe sell more than 10,000 bagels this year and cheerfully let his fellow students know when their credit card had been declined. He has even transitioned into the work force, stocking shelves at the Amagansett I.G.A. With just a few years left at the high school, his mother is concerned about how to help him continue to progress.
“Austin’s greatest need is ongoing access to meaningful daily structure, opportunities to continue learning, and a place where he can build friendships and participate in his community. A local day habilitation center would provide consistency beyond the school years by offering individualized life-skills instruction, community integration, recreational activities, and social opportunities tailored to his goals,” she said. “Ultimately, a day habilitation center on the East End would not replace what Austin receives at school -- it would build on it. It would help ensure that the progress he’s made doesn’t stop when the school day or school year ends. Instead, it would provide a pathway to continued growth, purpose, friendships, and community involvement throughout adulthood.”
Austin is one of seven students who currently take part in the high school’s life skills program, with an eighth expected to join this fall. Ms. Elflein sent fliers to 20 former students and is hopeful their families will also come to the open house. Her goal is to attract at least 10 people with special needs to get the new day habilitation program started.
“There are some parents who have to move because the services are better elsewhere. It would be so nice for families not to have to make those kinds of decisions,” she said. “I’m hoping to see a lot of familiar faces from the past who want to get out and do something and be among their peers. The kids are just so much fun.”
The open house will be this Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the East Hampton High School cafeteria.