United Cerebral Palsy Association of San Diego County

WE WILL:
• Actively work to remove the physical, attitudinal and architectural barriers that exclude people with disabilities from full participation.
• Create competitive and supported employment opportunities for persons with cerebral palsy and other with severe disabilities.
• Be guided by the philosophy that persons with cerebral palsy have the right and the desire to shape their own destinies and therefore have the right and responsibility to be active decision makers in both the service they receive and the decisions of the agency.
• Continue to focus our energies and resources toward efforts to assure that every child and adult with a disability has the opportunity to live in a family or in his or her own home in the community.
• Advocate for the development of family support options that provide families with choices for obtaining the resources and services that can enable them to maintain a functioning family system that can nurture and provide for the needs of all family members including the family member with a disability.
• Continue to work vigorously in our efforts to advocate for and develop assistive technology resources vital to the education, employment and independence of persons with cerebral palsy and other severe disabilities.
• Advocate for expanded educational opportunities for children with disabilities in integrated school settings and that assistive technology and other related services are provided to support each student's learning needs.
• Uphold the dignity of people with disabilities by condemning any condescending or maudlin portrayal of them by the media and work to achieve positive media portrayal that improves public understanding and attitude about persons with disabilities.
• Promote personal health, home and public safety so as to prevent or reduce the occurrence, frequency an impact of disabling injuries, accidents, child abuse, and illnesses for the benefit of all people, including persons with disabilities.
• Continue to support research into the causes, prevention, treatment and amelioration of the effects of cerebral palsy.

UCP has long history of seeking innovative opportunities to meet the complex needs of individuals with I/DD and their families in an ever changing world. In addition to providing adult day employment and social recreation services for over 150 individuals with cerebral palsy and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, UCP also offers many programs and services to the community including i) an augmentative communication and assistive technology center, ii) a toy and software lending library, iii) a durable medical equipment recycling program, iv) a respite program for parents, v) funding programs to help individuals with specific expenses related to disability.

Throughout its history, the United Cerebral Palsy Association of San Diego County (UCP/SD) has been a community leader in service delivery to area citizens affected by cerebral palsy and other disabilities and their families. Our continued growth, innovation and firm financial footing are linked to our employees' ability to make decisions that are consistent with UCP/SD's business values and core ethical principles. By embedding these business values and principles in our policies and practices, UCP/SD has established an ethical business culture that is accepted by its employees and woven into the fabric of the ways in which we work. Continually striving for organizational excellence, we are always committed to:

• Integrity - We are honest and forthright in our dealings with employees, consumers and their families, business partners/vendors, teammates, competitors, donors, and the community. We conduct our business with respect for laws and regulations, and we promote individual responsibility to ensure that all actions are based on the highest ethical standards.

• Respect - We treat others as we would want to be treated - attentive to personal dignity and receptive to diversity of ideas. We recognize the value that comes from respecting individuality, personal experience, and varied heritages.

• Teamwork - We value teams because they promote trust, openness, challenge, opportunity, innovation and growth. We join with each other, our consumers and their families and our business partners/vendors to provide high-value solutions to complex problems, requirements, and demands.

• Quality - We believe that quality and continuous process improvement are fundamental to the way we develop and support our program service continuum. We are consumer-driven - striving to meet and exceed expectations in all that we do.

• Innovation - We build on our heritage of program service excellence through creative thinking, novel ideas, and practical solutions. Consumer success is enhanced through our community leadership and program execution. We encourage, recognize, and reward our employees for being creative, resourceful, and productive.

These principles support and guide our leadership in establishing the strategic direction of the organization. We must do more than be compliant with laws, regulations and policies; we must work according to our ethical principles and endeavor to conduct ourselves in a manner beyond reproach.

UCP/SD's reputation is based on the personal integrity of its employees and those with whom we do business. Sound judgment must be exercised in the service of our reputation as a compassionate community leader dedicated to advancing the independence and full citizenship of persons with disabilities.
UCP is governed by a 15 member Board of Directors and over 75 highly qualified full and part-time staff. UCP has a diverse revenue stream from private and public sources. In addition UCP operates three thrift stores.

UCP was established by concerned parents in 1958 in order to develop needed services for their children with cerebral palsy as well as promote understanding and information about cerebral palsy to the community. Since that time, UCP has grown to provide a wide range of programs and services for people of all ages with cerebral palsy and other disabilities and their families. UCP is recognized as a leader in the disability community and has recently been instrumental in advocating for additional funding for the entire service delivery system in the State of California. In the last year alone, we provided services to over 5200 people, including children, adolescents, adults, their families, professionals and other interested persons. Our programs help lift people out of poverty, reduce reliance on public benefits, give people access to needed technology, and are a catalyst for an ever changing and welcoming community. The most recent CARF accreditation (2016) noted "UCPSD's board of directors, leadership, and staff have a longstanding commitment to providing valued and needed services and have been dedicated to growth and diversification of funding. The organization is committed to meeting the needs of the consumers, with a high level of satisfaction with programs and services expressed by all stakeholders, including the consumers, family members, funders, and community. Consumers receive a valuable service that clearly benefits from their involvement with the organization, are treated with dignity and respect, and consistently speak of the organization in positive terms. It is evident that the board of directors, leadership, and staff are all committed to quality improvement, innovation, and forward thinking". As we move into the next chapter of services, we will be looking to individualize options, particularly for employment, and to ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities are able to determine their own futures, free of artificial barriers to truly live a lives without limits.