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Arc FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is The Arc? What does The Arc stand for?

The Arc is a local, state, and national organization of and for people with mental retardation and related disabilities and their families.

It is devoted to promoting and providing supports and services for people with mental retardation and their families to enable them to choose and realize their goals of where and how they live, learn, work and play.

The Arc also fosters research and education regarding the prevention of mental retardation in infants and young children.

The Arc is a grassroots organization with 140,00 members across the United States who are affiliated through approximately 1,000 state and local chapters across the nation.

Blackstone Valley Chapter is one of the 1,000 local chapters across the country.

There are nine local and one state chapter of The Arc in Rhode Island.

Since The Arc was founded in 1955 it has gone by many different names. As times changed, so did the name. But the letters, A-R-C continued in the name.

The derogatory use of the words mental retardation and variations of the term, made the continued use of the words "mental retardation" in the name of the organization offensive to many who belonged to the organization.

Therefore, in the early 1990's, the national organization dropped the words mental retardation from The Arc name and now just uses The Arc to identify itself.

2. Who do we provide services to?

We provide services to individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.

The primary disability of the people supported in BVC programs is mental retardation.

We provide services for individuals of all ages, but the majority of the people we support are 18 years of age and older.

We provide services to children with special needs through advocacy support, an after school Kids Club program as well as a summer computer camp operated in conjunction with the Pawtucket Department of Special Education.

The people we support often have more than one disability.

Additional disabilities include visual and hearing impairments, physical disabilities, behavioral challenges, autism, and mental health issues.

We often use the terms mental retardation and developmental disability interchangeably.

However, there are differences. Mental retardation is a developmental disability; a person with a developmental disability is not necessarily considered to be mentally retarded.

The term developmental disability means a severe, chronic disability of a person which is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments; is manifested before the age of twenty-two (22); is likely to continue indefinitely; and results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activity: personal care, communication, mobility, learning, self-direction, capacity for independent living, economic self-sufficiency, and reflects the person's needs for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic care, treatment, or other services which are life-long, or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated.

An individual is considered to have mental retardation based on three criteria: an intellectual functioning level of below 70 - 75; significant limitations exist in two or more adaptive skill areas; and the condition is present from childhood, defined as age 18 or less.

The important thing to know is that people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities can learn.

The process is slower. Children and adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities feel, think, hope and have dreams for the future.

Despite their challenges individuals with disabilities are more similar than different to people without disabilities. Bob enjoys talking on the phone.

With the help of his support staff he works as the receptionist at Blackstone Valley Industries.

3. How do people become involved in BVC programs?

Individuals are referred for services through several avenues: RI Division of Developmental Disabilities, Local Special Education Departments, Family members or friends.
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Most of the people we support have been referred to us by the Rhode Island Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD).

Local school departments refer students when they reach the age of 21 and are no longer eligible for public school special education services.

On occasion, we become involved with an individual who has not been involved in the either the school or the social service system, primarily through our Advocate.

In these situations a family member, a friend or the individual themselves will call asking for help with a specific situation.

4. How are we funded?

We are a private, non-profit agency that is funded primarily through the individual funding of each person in a specific program.

Each person has a funding rate set by the Division of Developmental Disabilities based upon their program needs and the level of support required to provide appropriate programming.

We also receive revenue from program service fees; contract production for local manufacturing companies; and sales revenue from our six businesses.

Fundraising efforts and grant funding are also necessary to provide necessary and critical services that are not funded through any other sources.

Our budget struggles to support the many critical services that we provide, but there is always more to do.

With increased support of our efforts we have a vision of what the future can hold for those we support in helping them to achieve their dreams of where and how they live, work, learn and play.

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