History

ECF's 60 Year History: “The Evolution of a Diamond"

Just like a diamond evolves through many stages before becoming a polished gemstone, so too has ECF evolved over its 60-year history on its path to this year’s “Diamond Jubilee” Anniversary.

Like a diamond — that progresses from formation through cutting and polishing — ECF has progressed from a simple idea of intolerance for the “status quo” for children with developmental disabilities in 1946 to the innovative, comprehensive service agency it is today, reaching over 2,300 children and adults with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries with critical services every year.

Walk with us through this sparkling history, tracing ECF from its momentous formation as a diamond in the rough through its celebratory “Diamond Jubilee” Anniversary when ECF shines so radiantly as the polished gemstone it is today...

The Early Years (1946 – 1959): “ECF’s Diamond Forms”

A diamond is formed by prolonged exposure of carbon bearing materials to extremely high pressure and temperature deep within the earth. For ECF’s courageous founders, their children were the precious carbon and the institutionalized warehousing of people with developmental disabilities provided the high pressure and temperature that brought about great change.

In 1946, ECF’s diamond was formed when this courageous group of parents took a momentous stand and came together to meet the needs of their developmentally disabled children at home. By establishing a cooperative child-care system as an alternative to institutionalized care, these parents gave wings to their deepest convictions — and to their children.

Out of their hope and determination, Exceptional Children’s Foundation (ECF) was born and has been serving people with developmental disabilities ever since. The birth of ECF as a diamond in the rough challenged traditional thinking and the practice of merely warehousing exceptional children. This volunteer agency, initially fueled by a fundraising Women’s Auxiliary, captured the imagination of all who believed that exceptional children deserved the dignity of a chance to blossom to their own potential, and ECF’s message of hope was truly contagious.

ECF’s founding parents played key roles in establishing both national and state advocacy organizations in 1950 and ’52, respectively (now the Arc U.S. and Arc California). By 1954, ECF was adopted by the preeminent Hollywood women’s philanthropic group SHARE, Inc.

With SHARE’s generous and steadfast support, ECF established the first Child Guidance and Counseling Center west of the Mississippi, built ECF’s first Work Activity Center at the Adams Boulevard headquarters, and helped launch a residential program at Elkhorn Ranch in Saugus. The Foundation — at age 12 — hired its first professional executive director, Dr. Robert D. Shushan, and the stage was set for this diamond in the rough to finally be unearthed.

The 1960s: “ECF’s Diamond Surfaces”

Diamond bearing rock is brought close to the surface by volcanic eruptions deep within the earth. For ECF, the election of President John F. Kennedy provided the volcanic eruption that moved mental retardation into the nation’s consciousness and fostered the surfacing of ECF’s diamond in the rough.

On the political front, ECF’s parents joined their counterparts across the state to push through California’s pivotal Lanterman Act guaranteeing community-based programming to persons with developmental disabilities, and after years of parent advocacy the State of California passed the McBride Bill in 1965 which mandated public-sponsored, special education be provided for children with IQs lower than 50, finally allowing them to join their higher functioning peers already enrolled in public schools.

Closer to home, by 1961 ECF had founded a second work center in Whittier. In 1964 a federal grant underwrote a notable study at ECF to determine the benefits of work programs for people with developmental disabilities that ended up launching ECF’s third work center in Torrance (which the Arc South Bay took over five years later) named PAR (Production and Rehabilitation) Services Work Center.

Then in 1968, with SHARE’s backing, ECF ventured into uncharted territory by opening its renowned Art Center for adults with developmental disabilities under the guidance of the Otis Art Institute. This unique and innovative program nurtured and explored the creative talents of “disabled” artists, many of whom displayed remarkable abilities, launching a tradition of annual sales and exhibitions still held today. Clearly ECF’s diamond in the rough had surfaced and was ready for mining!

The 1970s: “Mining the ECF Diamond”

Diamond ore is mined from the earth and must then be very carefully crushed to release its precious contents without damaging the diamonds. ECF’s diamond was carefully mined to reap the benefits of new program development while strengthening the agency as a whole. The momentum of the ‘60’s increased as expectations of what could be accomplished through the right kind of training and guidance soared.

ECF marked the turn of the decade by founding its new third PAR Services Work Center — in Santa Monica — and by securing a momentous SHARE grant to establish the Infant Development Program, now called Early Start, in 1972. Early Start was one of the first two programs in all of Los Angeles County to recognize and respond to the overwhelming need to reach children with special needs with education and therapy as early as possible.

ECF’s program distinguished itself with a strong family outreach and support component, and Early Start was an immediate success. Within its first decade, a California Department of Maternal and Child Health grant underwrote ECF’s Project Infant, launching Early Start’s home visiting program.

To serve the generations who had not had the benefit of ECF’s breakthrough Early Start program, ECF opened its first Developmental Activity Center (DAC) designed to help adults with developmental disabilities develop the basic self care and life skills that promote community involvement and independence. Many participants aspired to work in paying jobs, so ECF secured a City of Los Angeles Economic Development Department grant to improve its PAR Central facility.

Capping the decade, ECF used a SHARE grant to relocate to a new headquarters building — incorporating administrative offices and a dazzling new Art Center — on West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. When a diamond is mined, the world finally reaps the benefit of the one to three billion years it took to form this precious gem; ECF’s diamond — mined after all these years — was finally glistening in the sunlight to the benefit of well over a thousand children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

The 1980s: “Distributing the ECF Diamond”

Once a rough diamond has been mined, it undergoes sophisticated sorting and is then marketed and sold in a bulk lot. For ECF’s diamond, this refined process involved accelerated growth and activity throughout the 1980’s as its client
base and programs expanded while state support continued at high levels and private donors underwrote special projects.

L.A. City Economic Development Agency and Community Development Department funds supported further upgrading and expansion of ECF’s PAR Central facility. Annual grants from the Margaret Bundy Scott Trust underwrote valuable improvements, including the new Westside center, paving the way for ECF’s multi-million dollar contract from NISH to manufacture file organizers for the federal government still held today.

To recognize SHARE’s pivotal role in providing critical services to people with developmental disabilities, First Lady Nancy Reagan dedicated ECF’s then-headquarters building to SHARE in a gala ceremony in 1984. A new kind of program debuted when ECF received one of eight national grants from the Social Security Administration to launch a Supported Employment Program. This became one of ECF’s proudest accomplishments... from the first worker placed in 1985 at Holiday Inn to the latest worker just placed at Nike. Within two years, Municipal Courts had hired the first ECF work team for clerical duties, and PAR workers discovered the meaning of “move-up” opportunities.

By mid-decade, funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development allowed ECF to break ground for the first federally subsidized housing units in the West providing both living skills training and housing to people with developmental disabilities. After construction of new buildings in central L.A. and Whittier, 12 ECF clients moved into apartments at each location and embarked on a rigorous two-year program to give them the skills required to live successfully on their own. By 1986, ECF’s first “graduates” moved into their own community apartments.

To support those who required some supervision to live relatively independent lives, ECF secured a third, long-term low-interest HUD loan and built the Valverde group home in Reseda — replacing ECF’s nearly 30-year-old Elkhorn Ranch in Saugus. Capitalizing on the success of its pilot developmental activity program, ECF opened a second DAC in Culver City and a third in central L.A. The L.A. facility was purchased with Weingart Foundation funds and remodeled for state-of-the-art programming with a W. M. Keck Foundation grant and a HUD-financed Local Economic Action Program grant made available by the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department.

While ECF ended the decade on a high note, storm clouds lurked just over the horizon. In 1988, statewide protests marked proposed budget cuts affecting services for people with developmental disabilities. Some of the state funding was restored, but nearly two decades of scarcity had begun. ECF’s diamond had made it through the distribution phase with great flourish, but to what end?

The 1990’s: “Cutting ECF’s Diamond”

The cutting of a diamond is both an art and a science, requiring extreme skill and precision to cut expertly in the soft direction using the hard direction of a cutting diamond. The 1990’s presented just such a challenge to ECF’s diamond — on the verge of glistening more brightly than ever but facing the daunting drop in state funding. ECF, however, rose to the challenge and persevered in its mission, delivering critical services and achieving significant gains in overcoming disabilities.

ECF and the national network of affiliated Arcs launched a massive prevention program aimed at slashing the incidence of preventable brain damage and birth defects. Education efforts ranged from advocating mandatory use of child car safety seats and bicycle helmets to publicizing the importance of folic acid and abstinence from alcohol and drugs by women of child-bearing age.

Funds from the Margaret Bundy Scott Trust enabled ECF to purchase its Westside Center, but budget constraints and seismic problems combined to force closing of ECF’s work center and companion DAC in Van Nuys. Work programs overall, however, continued to record successes. The GSA file organizer contract was renewed and expanded. A W. M. Keck Foundation grant underwrote equipment upgrades and the addition of a contract procurement officer.

The first Supported Employment recycling teams landed contracts with the Santa Monica and Culver City Sanitation Departments. A 90-day group janitorial pilot project at the Ronald Reagan Building was an unqualified success, and the work team was soon signed to a $1.8 million three-year contract.

The Art Center continued to receive acclaim as budding artists received awards in juried shows and made important sales to prominent corporate clients, seasoned collectors, celebrities, and even Hollywood set decorators. Recognizing that people with developmental disabilities were surviving well into old age, ECF launched a trend-setting nationally recognized model recreational, health, and fitness program for senior citizens with developmental disabilities.

On the other end of the lifespan, a Weingart Foundation grant underwrote the upgrading of the Early Start facility at ECF’s original headquarters on Adams Boulevard. In 1993, ECF held its last official residential program “graduation.” Budget restrictions had trimmed the training component, leaving some residents in training longer and requiring individual “graduations.” Significant financial relief came to ECF, however, with a major financial contribution from the Margaret Bundy Scott Trust in 1994 to increase the agency’s Endowment Fund.

These funds offered a much brighter outlook as ECF celebrated its Golden Anniversary and reflected on 50 years of service. In 1999 as the decade came to a close, so too did an era at ECF: Robert Shushan, Ed.D., ECF’s first Executive Director who had guided and nurtured the agency for over 40 years — from a diamond in the rough to a brilliantly shining cut diamond — took a well-deserved retirement. After a national search, Scott D. Bowling, Psy. D., was named President and CEO to guide ECF well into the next century, and ECF’s sparkling gem passed on to a new leader.

The Current Decade “Polishing ECF’s Diamond” After a diamond is cut, polishing is the essential process that creates magnificent luster revealing the gem’s brightest sparkle. With a new leader and the dawn of a new century, ECF’s diamond was poised for polishing and began this new era by launching an agency website and a computer network electronically linking its 12 sites. The new century also brought ECF a fresh new look with the relocation of its headquarters to a beautifully remodeled administrative section within the Westside facility in Culver City.

Unfortunately, with the new century also came a daunting state budget crisis that came on the heels of years of agonizingly sparse funding. Facing this economic crisis and the challenges of a new CEO, Dr. Bowling launched the first of two of ECF’s completed strategic plans, conducting internal and external analyses and developing concrete, measurable goals for each department within the agency.

Early Start made significant strides both financially and programmatically. Through the generosity of SHARE, Inc. and the Palos Verdes Junior Women’s Club, Early Start significantly enhanced family outreach and support services and made marked inroads to integrating all three sites with non-disabled peer role models. Enrollment soared, more than tripling in the five-year period through 2003.

That same year, the Los Angeles site became home to the program’s new Family Resource Center through a grant from South Central Los Angeles Regional Center, and the building on Adams Boulevard was dedicated to the ladies of SHARE in recognition of their long-term commitment to ECF and Early Start for nearly 50 years.

In 2003, weak economic conditions necessitated the consolidation of ECF’s work services from three sites to two. Fortunately, ECF continued to provide work and developmental activities to nearly 90% of the adults involved, and supported Employment developed by expanding to include adults with acquired brain injuries in 2002 and being one of the very first providers in California to join the national Ticket to Work program for people with various disabilities in 2003.

Residential and day programs also grew and flourished. In 2002, ECF was one of few providers selected state-wide to support adults with developmental disabilities as they moved out of institutionalized settings into community apartments and homes. ECF expanded services by acquiring a six-bed group home in Culver City in 2003 and converting Valverde to a model including health related services in 2004. Generous grants from the S. Mark Taper Foundation and the Weingart Foundation further enhanced ECF’s continuum of care by adding health related services at the S. Mark Taper Center for Exceptional Citizens.

ECF expanded its nationally recognized Art Center in 2004 with the opening of a site in San Pedro — the first of its kind in the South Bay community — through a start-up grant from Harbor Regional Center. The most striking property of diamonds, aside from their beauty, is that they are literally the strongest thing on earth — so strong in fact that at four times the strength of their closest challenger, nothing else even comes close. ECF’s diamond shares this characteristic strength.

ECF has not only weathered the economically stormy times of late but has actually grown and flourished — becoming a polished and gleaming diamond — in spite of them, achieving nearly 90% of the agency’s strategic goals along the way.

ECF derives a lot of its diamond-like strength from a steadfast commitment to its core values of service excellence, integrity, empowerment, fiscal responsibility, advocacy, and most importantly, people: the clients, families, employees, volunteers, supporters, and friends who have made up ECF’s family for a sparkling 60 years. On this our Diamond Anniversary, we share our profound gratitude with everyone who has played a part in making ECF’s diamond shine so brightly. Here’s to our next 60 years!