Queens Centers for Progress is made up of people working together to promote the independence of individuals with developmental disabilities. They play many different roles, but each of the agency’s more than 600 staff members is focused on this same goal.
A developmental disability is defined as a condition that:
- is attributable to physical or mental impairments,
- is acquired before the individual is 22 years old,
- is likely to continue indefinitely,
- results in substantial functional limitations in three or more areas of major life activity, and
- reflects the person’s need for individually planned and coordinated services and supports of long-term duration.
QCP’s goal is to support each person in making the most of his or her talents, abilities, and interests.
More than 1,500 people now receive ongoing services from QCP. They provide services for people of all ages – from toddlers to the elderly – and for all aspects of life, including providing a place to live and work, health care, hygiene and life skills training, education, therapy, vocational training, and recreation.
The services include education, therapy, job training and placement, day programs, advocacy, service coordination, housing, and many other support services to help people with developmental disabilities lead fuller lives.
Queens Centers for Progress was founded in 1950 as United Cerebral Palsy of Queens, by a group of parents who needed services for their children with cerebral palsy. The not-for-profit organization’s first services were delivered from the basement of a wood-frame house in Queens, now affectionately referred to as the “haunted house.” At the time, it was run in consultation with local hospitals.
QCP began providing residential services in 1979 with the opening of the Robert T. Groh Residence in Jamaica Estates. That house is now home to eight seniors.
In 1989, QCP opened the Daniel Wieder Campus, named after the agency’s Executive Director from 1960 to 1987. On that site, they have a Day Habilitation Program for 150 people and five ten-bed Intermediate Care Facilities for adults with significant disabling conditions.
The agency has opened three Individual Residential Alternative houses in neighborhoods throughout Queens, and additional residential expansion is planned.
In 2001, they changed their name to Queens Centers for Progress, to reflect the wide variety of developmental disabilities served by our programs. QCP now has a staff of more than 600 and an annual budget of over $35 million – funded through federal, state, and local government sources, contract services, and private contributions.
