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NILES -- The CEO selected to take over Fairhaven Industries so it can become a provider for developmentally disabled people who no longer will be able to get direct services through the county is starting the licensing process.
Fairhaven Industries has been a nonprofit working jointly with the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities since 1967, said board Superintendent Edward Stark. Some of the clients served by the board have taken advantage of workshop programs through Fairhaven Industries, and the workshops should continue to operate, Stark said.
However, clients served through the board have to find new providers before 2020, according to state and federal agreements mandating county boards no longer function as service providers for the people they serve in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
The board is planning to transition all of the adult service programs offered by the board to Fairhaven Industries by 2018, Stark said.
In order to become a provider, Fairhaven Industries had to hire a CEO, George Paros, and must go through a licensing process that could take several months, Stark said.
Sometime in the middle of the year, some of the board's clients will start the transition to Fairhaven Industries, or another provider of their choice, Stark said.
The board is working with clients and their families to ensure they are all enrolled in the Medicaid waiver program that will fund the services they rely on.