Running Head: AGENCY REPORT 1

Agency Report

Christine Gitonga

Wilmington University

Melmark Agency Report

AGENCY REPORT 2

Melmarks vision is to continue to advance in their clinical systems hence, becoming both

a national and international resource center. Consequently, Melmark aims to provide services in

an environment of warmth, care and respect. Thus, Melmark prides itself in being a center of

excellence for all the services they provide and, in all the locations they provide them. In order

to achieve this vision therefore, Melmark uses the concept of excellence to fuel all the decisions

that they make.

Melmarks mission is to serve children, adults as well as their families who are affected

by a wide range of intellectual disabilities. This means that Melmark is committed to working

with families and referral sources from throughout the country and also the world. They are able

to do this through their evidence based, educational, vocational, clinical, and residential and also

personally designed distinct programs to suit everyones needs.

Melmark has various locations. These are in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Andover,

Massachusetts and, in New England. However, the agencys main corporate offices are located in

the Berwyn campus. The agencys target population is children and adults suffering from autism,

intellectual disabilities, brain injuries as well as other neurological and genetic conditions.

Melmark accepts students who are age between five and twenty one years old into their school

and those who are above the age of twenty one for the adult programs. Intellectual disability

affects about 2-3% of the general population in the United States. Seventy five to ninety percent

of those affected are said to suffer from mild intellectual disability. A quarter of those cases

diagnosed with intellectual disability are said to be as a result of a genetic disorder (Daily,

Ardinger & Holmes, 2000). This means that the cases have been inherited from the persons

parents. As of the year 2013, the cases of unknown causes of intellectual and mental disability

affected up to 95 million people (Global Burden of Disease Study, 2013).

AGENCY REPORT 3

Melmark is led by a Board of Directors comprising of board members who are committed

to serve. These members of the board volunteer their time, talent and resources to make sure that

all the programs are carried out with the greatest level of care for both the children and adults.

The leadership team comprises of several multidisciplinary leaders who each have extensive

experience in the fields of intellectual as well as developmental disabilities and human services.

Melmarks leadership policies are founded on provision of a range of innovative programs for

the population that it serves. The administrative team is therefore, committed to excellence which

is achieved through a dynamic strategic management process, and an operating environment that

fosters stewardship and financial responsibility.

Melmark is run by a Board of Directors and a leadership team. The leadership comprises

of a President, who doubles up as the CEO. She is Rita M. Gardner, M.P.H. The agency has two

vice presidents, on dealing with business operations and the other who is the Chief Financial

Officer. The business operations vice president is Peter Troy while the Chief Financial Officer is

Joseph Zakrzewski. Other senior executives include Frank Bird who is the Chief Clinical Officer,

Karen Parenti who is the Executive Director, and Mary Jane Weiss who is the Senior Director of

Research. There are other critical roles in the organizational structure of Melmark and they

include; the Executive Director of Childrens Services, the Director of Advancement, Senior

Director of Human resources and the President/ CEO of Emeritus. Other middle level and junior

level management opportunities sprout from these key leadership roles. There is delegation of

responsibilities where the junior and the middle level management team and employees report to

the senior level management.

AGENCY REPORT 4

Joseph M. Zakrzewski, CPA

Rita M. Gardner, Peter J. Troy, M.B.A . Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer
M.P.H., LABA, Vice President,

BCBA Business Operations

President and CEO

Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D.,

BCBA-D
Karen Parenti, M.S., Psy.D.
Frank L. Bird, Executive Director

M.Ed., LABA,

BCBA

Chief Clinical

Officer Senior Dire ctor

of Research

Melmark relies heavily on philanthropic support from families, friends, foundations and

the community. These donations enhance the agencys ability to serve the people who have been

entrusted to their care. The funding that the agency receives form donors also helps them

maintain and improve their programs and facilities. Also, funding sources for children comes

from school districts, behavioral health managed care organizations as well as other limited

public funding sources.

Melmark works hand in hand with other agencies to provide services and programs that

allow every individual to achieve his or her greatest level of independence and also, to become
AGENCY REPORT 5

an active member of their community. Thus, to achieve this goal, Melmarks Children services

admissions representatives work together with the family members, human service

representatives and also other referral sources to appropriately address every childs need.

Consequently, Melmark receives funding from school districts behavioral health managed care

organizations as well as other limited public funding sources meaning that they all work together

to achieve a common goal.

One of the greatest challenges facing the agency is lack of sufficient funding to carry out

the vast array of activities it would be interested in. Since Melmark admits children and adults

from all over the US and even internationally, the number of applications it gets are numerous

and some have to be placed on a waiting list. The resources the agency has are not enough to

serve such a large number of people. However, the support from the community is immense and,

their contributions help ease the burden.

As an intern, I am tasked with the responsibility of helping out in my area of specialty. I

am directly engaged with the children and adults in the different programs and, I am part of the

team that helps them become the most independent they can be. However, I carry out all my

activities under the supervision of specialists with a wealth of experience. Sometimes, I help with

record keeping and student evaluation activities.

AGENCY REPORT 6

References

Daily D.K, Ardinger H.H, Holmes G.E (2000). Identification and evaluation of mental

retardation". Am Fam Physician. 61 (4): 105967, 1070. PMID 10706158.

Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, Collaborators (2015). "Global, regional, and national

incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases

and injuries in 188 countries, 19902013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of

Disease Study 2013. The Lancet. 386: 743800.doi:10.1016/S0140-6736 (15)60692-

4. PMC 4561509. PMID 26063472

Leadership Team. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.melmark.org/melmark-

pennsylvania-leadership-team