MDS 25th Anniversary Home, Monadnock Developmental Services

Why celebrate 25 years?

Once upon a time, if you were the parent of a child with disabilities in New Hampshire, you had two choices: institutionalization at the state-funded Laconia School or keep your child at home, with no funding and little help from the state.

Today people with disabilities live in towns like Peterborough, Keene, Alstead, Winchester, and thirty-one other communities in the Monadnock Region. They live with families or share apartments with roommates; they work in grocery stores, restaurants, and factories; and they belong to churches, softball teams, and civic clubs.

(See our Fact Sheet)

What has happened in the past 25 years to change that?

In the late 1970s, the people of the state of NH spoke out loudly and clearly, insisting that institutionalization of people with developmental and other disabilities was inhumane and unlawful. Thus began the decade-long process of moving people, who had lived most of their lives at Laconia State School, back to their communities. The hope was that by returning them home, they could live fuller and more meaningful lives.

As part of this process, New Hampshire's area agency system, including Monadnock Developmental Services, was set up to facilitate and support the transition of hundreds of people back to their homes and their communities. As the first state in the nation to close its state institution, New Hampshire has led the way nationally on many fronts in the struggle to provide rights for those with disabilities. Our community-based system is considered a model by the rest of the nation.

Individualized Services; Individualized Opportunities

The groundbreaking concepts of self-determination and individualization were successfully tested and put into practice in southwestern New Hampshire by Monadnock Developmental Services in the early 1990s, with the support of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Self-Determination means that we create the opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to participate fully in the culture and in the community. Individualizing services for people with developmental disabilities emphasizes quality rather than quantity of results or outcomes. Starting with a few individuals, these concepts were tested and then put into practice for everyone served by MDS. Other states have followed the New Hampshire model, taking from the work done here in the Monadnock region and putting it into practice across the U.S.

Yes, Celebrate!

The result of these changes has been dramatic over the past 25 years. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, Monadnock Developmental Services wants to highlight how things are different today, the people who are making it happen, and why what we do matters to the entire community, not just the people we serve.