| What is your mission and purpose?
Ala Costa Centers empowers school-aged children with developmental disabilities to find, use, and express their unique strengths and talents. We enable children to remain living in their homes. Our program allows parents to pursue employment to support their families, and it gives families the time to pursue simple activities such as shopping, cooking a meal, or completing a household job. By enriching the children’s lives, society as a whole is improved and will more fully appreciate the intrinsic value of its entire people.
What is the history of Ala Costa Centers?
Ala Costa was founded in 1972 by a small group of parents who wanted a safe place for their children to come after school. We now operate 250 days per year with a professional staff of over 50. Ala Costa currently has 2 large sites; Berkeley and Oakland. Each site is able to serve over 50 students.
What are some of the activities employed by Ala Costa Centers?
Personal care needs, community integration, specialty classes; sign language, music, dance, creative movement. Students are given a selection of different activities to experience. Through these variety of different activities, students will develop personal preferences and learn to try new things.
What hours are you open?
We are open Monday through Friday from 2:00 to 6:00 pm during regular school time and from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm during school holidays and summer vacations. The program will be closed on national holidays. There will also be some Friday evenings where students can come and enjoy an evening of fun.
Can you tell me about your curriculum?
Our curriculum is designed to help students develop skills in independent living, mobility, fine arts, expressive and receptive language, functional academics, social interaction, and vocational readiness. Curriculum is highly individualized and corresponds to the goals of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) developed for each student.
How much would the program cost me?
The program doesn’t cost a penny. The program is funded by the support of the Regional Center of the East Bay, City of Berkeley, California Department of Education, and Oakland Fund for Children and Youth. There may be a share of cost that is determined by the Regional Center. Other fees may be applied, such as activities, community outings, and community lunches. To be eligible for the Regional Center funding your child will need to be a client of Regional Center Services. Please contact the Regional Center of the East Bay at 510-383-1200.
How do I get my child in the program?
After you have contacted your Regional Center caseworker, please contact either site, Berkeley at 510-527-2550, or Oakland at 510-383-3200, to determine available space or to be placed on our waiting list. As space becomes available a director will contact you and set up a time for in-take and observation. During the observation parents will receive application paperwork to be filled out and returned. Application paperwork is available at each center.
What is your staff to child ratio?
Overall ratio is based at a 1 to 5 ratio, (1 staff member to every 5 children). However, due to personal and behavioral care needs program staff child ratio can go to 1 to 3.
What ages do we serve?
Ala Costa Centers enrolls students between the ages of 5-22.
What counties do we serve?
We serve Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
Can you tell me about your wait list?
Due to the high demand for services for children who have a developmental disability such as autism, down syndrome, mental retardation, or cerebral palsy we currently have a waiting list for openings. It is our policy to first place a potential student on our waiting list prior to being placed at one of our centers.
Can you tell me about your staff?
We have long-term staff. On average, the staff at Ala Costa Centers has been working with children with developmental disabilities for five years. We employ over 50 fully qualified staff members with strong experiential and professional backgrounds. They provide leadership to ensure that skill development is maximized and students are cared for in a safe, supportive setting. The staff is multi talented; they often offer their expertise in our music, art, and creative movement/dance specialty classes.
For personal care needs, who takes care of my child?
Ala Costa Centers policy includes promoting independence and support with personal care needs. For children ages 5-13 staff will provide supports as needed. For children 13-22 it is expected that students will have met a certain level of independence, depending on their abilities. In general, male staff will assist male students, and female staff will assist female students. However, due to meeting personal care needs, staff may be required to assist a student of the opposite sex.
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