Integrated Rehabilitation Therapies Inc

The primary mission of Encore Programs Inc. is to provide caring and competent mental health, rehabilitation, advocacy and educational services through an integrated approach, to individuals who have difficulty accessing general community services because of their disabilities.

Encore Programs, Inc. is the latest incarnation of an arts based therapuetic approach first founded and Services for the Disabled in Long Beach, CA more than 30 years ago.  Since that time Services for Disabled expanded to five satellite programs and was renamed, Arts 'n Services for Disabled until 2004 when the company was divided into two separate corporations in order to better serve populations with differing needs from both Orange and Los Angeles counties.  The Orange County organization is now called, Encore Programs, Inc., and is located within Huntington Beach near the Bolsa Ave and Springdale Street commercial and industrial parks.  We now serve approximately 75 clients with intellectual, emotional and physical disabilities (and often a combination of all three) from North Orange County.  We are the only site based program to offer therapuetic services in the form of individual and group counseling and therapy.

Our most important accomplishments of the last three years include: 1.   Financial stability.  Several years ago we were looking at a bleak financial situation, in large part due to budget restrictions from the State reimbursement process and dwindling attendance.  However, since then we have met our census limits and attendance goals consistently over the past years to put us well into the black.  Significant contributions from grants and volunteer fundraisers have also provided us with the capital necessary to make building repairs and renovations. 2. Our programs and services have grown to include more one-to-one and group counseling services in CAVA and vocational skills training in Encore. 3. We have been fortunate to have a successful working partnership with Coastline Community College to provide arts education classes to our clients that would be unavailable otherwise. Our goals for the future include: 1. Inclusion strategies and services that will allow clients to fully integrated into their communities via jobs training and support if they desire it or volunteer opportunities. 2. We have successfully created, funded, and expanded an Arts Exposure Program, which includes instruction, community involvement, and self-employment preparation for our clients. 3. An expansion of services through greater cooperation and partnerships with various educational institutions is also within reach and will support and compliment our inclusion services.  

Our program needs going forward include:
1. Continuing support and expansion of the Arts Exposure Programs to achieve two goals: community Inclusion mandated by DDS, and exposure to the cultural arts as defined by our two program plans and supported by foundation grants, donations, and gifts;
2. Additional instructional and therapeutic staff for each program: Encore, the day care program that emphasizes vocational skills and self-reliance through the creative arts;
3. The additional therapeutic component In CAVA (Clinical and Vocational Arts) for those clients who are dual diagnosed with mental illness and emotional challenges in combination with developmental disabilities, that encourage self-knowledge, social skills and the healing power of the Arts.

Technically, all of Orange County is within our service area.  However, due to the great distances and transportation issues most of our clients come from the North County area of Santa Ana and Tustin in the South, to Huntington Beach in the West and North. Because we are closer to Long Beach to the west and further distant from the Orange County cities listed above, we do seek include Long Beach in our excursions, if not the areas we draw our clients from. This is just a simple matter of geography: our clients come from areas that do not always lend themselves to Inclusion practices because of distance.
In other words, "Long Beach is a great place to visit, but we really [couldn't] live there." :D

Encore Programs Inc has a long and rich history serving the developmentally disabled adult population in Orange County and, previously, the City of Long Beach. We've been involved with the cutting edge

Our Vision
Encore Programs, Inc. endeavors to enhance possibilities for people with intellectual disabilities. Participants receive experience and education in the arts – music, dance, drama, visual arts, and industrial arts – as a means of engaging with community in deep and meaningful ways. Participants embrace creativity as a vocation and produce works that bring joy to others. For those whose barriers to personal fulfillment include behavioral health issues or major life stressors, access to group and individual counseling and psychotherapy from qualified professionals is provided. Each day we build a community designed for achieving personal goals and supporting the whole person.