Adult Services
The Geauga County Board of MR/DD offers a full range of programs for adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities throughout their life. For those individuals who are interested in work, programs include employment opportunities and work training in a sheltered workshop or enclave and employment in the community. For those individuals where work is not a priority, Geauga County Board of MRDD offers an Enrichment Program and a Senior's Program for older adults. The ultimate goal is independence, productivity and integration into the community. We start by asking what is important to the person, not by measuring what's wrong with the person.
Enrichment Program
For those individuals who are not able to work or who work on a limited basis, Geauga County Board offers an Enrichment Program. The Enrichment program focuses on recreation-leisure, health and wellness, and community activities. Individuals can participate in arts & crafts, games, physical exercise, a sensory room and much more!
Seniors Program
For those individuals age 50 or older who choose not to work full time, a seniors program is available. The Geauga County Board of MRDD's senior program shares a facility with the West Geauga Senior program in Chesterland, Ohio. The joint program enables the seniors with disabilities to participate in dances, parties, and special events with the non-disabled seniors. The location of the program is in a beautiful and serene area on Caves Road. The seniors have access to a party center, snack bar, farm market and paved walking trails. In addition, opportunities for swimming, community trips, arts & crafts and physical activities are available.
Sheltered Workshop
The sheltered workshop is located in Chesterland, Ohio and provides adults with disabilities a variety of jobs such as sorting, collating, assembly and packaging. Opportunities for employment training, learning new work skills, improving social skills, teaching responsibility, and the importance of being a good employee are available. Individuals who work are paid on an hourly rate or a per piece rate and are employed be Metzenbaum Sheltered Industries, Inc.
Community Employment Program
Committed. Conscientious. Reliable. Responsible. These are words most used by today's employers when describing the type of person they would like to hire - and thanks to the Community Employment Program, many local businesses are finding these qualities in employees they hire through the Geauga County Board of MRDD Adult Services Program. Developed in 1988 with the basic philosophy that all people, regardless of disability, have the right to pursue a community-based work environment, the Geauga County Board of MRDD's Community Employment Program is enabling its workers to live a life enriched with meaningful, productive employment. Examples of positions held by Metzenbaum clients include general laborer, dishwasher, stock clerk, housekeeping, assembly, library aid and nurse aid - and the list continues to grow. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) allows a certain portion of an employee's salary as a write-off for the first year the worker is employed.