Gift to fund Rich Center study of home-outreach program

YOUNGSTOWN — The Rich Center for Autism will use a $113,000 gift from Toula Phillips and her late husband, Alexander K. Sr., to finance a study for a home outreach program.

Phillips is scheduled to present a check to J. Georgia Backus, Rich Center director, and members of the agency’s board of trustees, at 10 a.m. Thursday. The center is located on the campus of Youngstown State University.

Drs. Ken and Susan Miller, faculty members at YSU, will supervise and implement the Home Outreach Program, officials said.

The goal of the study, which will begin in the fall, is to determine the impact of a home outreach program on autistic children’s academic and pro-social behavior performance, said Wendy Pakalnis, event coordinator/fundraiser for the Rich Center.

Parents and family caregivers assigned to a treatment group will participate in the home outreach program; control group subjects will not. The program includes regular assessments of the autistic child’s home environment regarding suitability for implementing a positive behavior reinforcement plan. In addition, the program offers training for implementing a positive behavior reinforcement plan to participating parents and family members.

After the outreach program is established and sufficient funding is located, the program could expand to address not only all enrolled children, but also the waiting list of 60 children, providing some level of support to those children in need of early intervention, Pakalnis said.

The outreach program blends well with Rich Center for Autism’s goals of promoting research in the field of autism and of supporting the needs of the individuals with autism and their families, she said.

The Rich Center, a not-for-profit organization established in 1995, serves children with autism with academic, research and public service programs. The center attempts to improve the educational, social and vocational success of children with autism by combining current research with innovative theories in education, Pakalnis said.