Assignment 2- California Therapeutic Recreation Center

The California Therapeutic Recreation Center

The California Therapeutic Recreation works through the program of “education and cooperation.” Their mission statement calls for support and growth of the recreation therapy profession. They fight and challenge the false beliefs of recreation therapy. They also “educate and inform their members and customers.”

The California Therapeutic Center was started by a group of individuals that include psychiatrists, clinical doctors and activists that saw the growing need for therapeutic recreation in the central valley region of Los Angelos. They wanted an organization that could aimed for children with special needs in the community.These individuals got together in the 1960s and founded the non-profit organization in 1962.

The Therapeutic Recreation Center has many work opportunities and everyone can get their foot in the door in different ways. The center offer employment opportunities as well as volunteering, social work, and internships for those that are interested in getting involved.  The different positions include clinical physicians, pyschiastrists, administrative staffs, ITs, social workers, and a large variety of internships positions. Some positions require more professional experiences and training, while others don't.There is a wide range of jobs.

Major issues that is associated with current trends for the Therapeutic Recreation Center include budget crises. With the new health care reform passed by Obama, there has been changes to where the center has access to funds. Some of the ways of how the Therapeutic Recreation Center gained access to funding are now close and while there are new ones that may be available, the center will need time and staff training to figure out how the new system works. Besides the healthcare reform, there has also been slashing of funding due to the economic crisis both at the local and federal government level.

On the upside, the center is experiencing trends in breakdown of service availabilities. Therapeutic Recreation Center  is becoming more community-based with the ability to provide more mental and physical services to children in need. Clients and families that used to have to travel to obtain services can now find them at their local communities.

When the center was asked what their definition of leisure was, they responded that they did not have any specific definition for leisure, but they do advocate leisure and recreation. They said they offered yoga, and gardening as leisure activities. They considered this to be very beneficial to the mental health care of the center's members and customers.

The center identified its major contribution to its community and what its members can benefit the most from is its mental therapeutic programs targeted towards children. Through its programs, the center is able to incorporate the families of such children into helping the children obtain the help and services they need.

 

There are different skills that are needed for an individual to work for the recreation centers. You need to have an interest in the well being of others and to help the mental state of individual in needs. An individual interested in this field needs to be extremely dedicated and to have at least general knowledge in the background of therapeutic recreation.

Group Members: Rebecca Unger (unger6) Antonio Delgado/Ortega (Ortega6) Chi-Wen Chang (cchang39), Corey Gorman (gorman1), Phillip Molley (molley2) lauren Graham (Graham38) Cristian Villasenor (Villase1)