Ala Costa

Ala Costa, known in full as Ala Costa Centers, is a Berkeley nonprofit that has worked with children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1972. Its main office and Berkeley after-school program are at 1300 Rose Street in the flat north-west part of the city, between Sacramento Street and San Pablo Avenue; the adult day programs run from a second site on Adeline Street and a further after-school site operates in Alameda. Sylvia Quesada is the chamber's contact.

Programs, in the organisation's own words

The organisation describes its work as person-centred programming and frames it as disability justice: all disabled people have the right to lead self-directed lives. Its programs are:

• An after-school program for school-aged children, at Rose Street in Berkeley and at the Alameda site
• Ala Costa Adult Transition, called ACAT, for young adults leaving the school system
• Adult Community Training, called ACT, an adult day program built around time in the community
• A Tailored Day Service, shaped to an individual's own goals

Across these, the activities it lists include community integration, life and social skills, travel training so participants can move around the East Bay on their own, and vocational training toward work.

Enrolling a child or young adult

Programs of this kind in California are generally funded through the Regional Center system, so the first call is often to the family's Regional Center service coordinator to ask for a referral; call Ala Costa directly as well to ask about openings at each site and the age ranges served. Bring the participant's current Individual Program Plan or IEP, any behaviour or medical support plans, and a note of transport needs, since travel to and from the program is one of the first practical questions. Ask about staff-to-participant ratios, how a typical day runs, how families are kept informed and how the program handles a participant who wants to change tracks, for instance moving from ACAT into ACT.

Where families come from

Participants come from Berkeley and the surrounding cities of Oakland, Albany, Emeryville, El Cerrito, Richmond and Kensington, and from Alameda, where the second after-school site is. Rose Street is a few blocks from the North Berkeley BART station and reachable on AC Transit lines along San Pablo Avenue.

The main office answers at 510-527-2550, and the website at alacostacenters.org describes each program in more detail.