The group designated by the state to advocate for the disabled has applauded the upcoming closure of Arkansas’ only facility for young adults with physical, psychological and learning impediments to receive workforce training in a residential setting.
But three recent Arkansas Career Training Institute graduates said replicating the support and belongingness they felt at ACTI in a nonresidential or mainstream setting may not be possible, a reality they said Disability Rights Arkansas seemed indifferent to as it commended the state for pivoting from the residential program toward an increased focus on community based vocational rehabilitation services.
DRA said in July it has long been opposed to segregated learning environments for the disabled, but ACTI graduate Logan Vest of Magness said he and others have thrived at the school. He is part of ACTI’s final residential class, graduating with honors Friday from the medical administrative assistant program.
“I took anatomy and physiology at National Park College, but my success was way higher at ACTI than it was at National Park,” he said. “The teachers at ACTI are trained to deal with disabilities and limitations. I learned better in a crowd of my own. You feel more comfortable around people with disabilities.
“If somebody non-disabled asked me what’s wrong with my arm, I might get offended. If my disabled peers asked I would just say ‘this is what happened to me. What happened to you?’”
DRA likened ACTI to an institutional setting, a view Vest said could be colored by its role representing aggrieved students. The governor has designated the organization to advocate and enforce the legal rights of the disabled in Arkansas. The nonprofit receives federal funding to represent students who bring grievances against Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, the state agency that oversees ACTI.
“I know DRA probably did receive some complaints, but out of a handful of complaints what’s the percentage of students enrolled at ACTI who didn’t complain?” Vest said. “When a student gets in trouble they want to call Disability Rights. They receive a handful of complaints, but ACTI has hundreds of success stories.”
Darci Wolters, of Little Rock, said ACTI’s blending of the collegiate experience with a comprehensive support structure helped her become one of those success stories. Residential and academic settings based on shared experiences and circumstances gave her the self-assertiveness she was lacking.
“In high school, I’d be embarrassed to ask questions when I didn’t understand,” she said, noting how her autism disorder isolated her from other students. “(At ACTI), I can ask any question, and they’re not going to point me out. The setting makes us all very comfortable with each other, because we all understand what it’s like to have a disability.”
She graduated last year from the medical administrative assistant program, capping her time at ACTI with a well-received graduation speech and musical performance. Her mother, Danna Wolters, said Darci’s experience at ACTI broke a stifling cycle of self-doubt and isolation.
The thought of enrolling her daughter in the faster pace and less supportive environment of a four-year college made Danna Wolters reluctant to grant her the space she needed to transition into adulthood. ACTI’s holistic program, wrapping psychological, emotional and social development around career training, gave Danna Wolters the confidence to let her daughter make her own way.
“This has been the child who I’ve advocated for,” she said. “She has been under the safety of my wing her whole life. I had a lot of letting go to do. For me as a parent, the process in what I saw her go through at ACTI, as a parent I grew. I learned to trust Darci’s decisions. I watched her flourish at ACTI.”
Matthew Hudspeth, of Beebe, said emotional and social breakthroughs he had at ACTI would have been more difficult to realize in a mainstream setting, where his schizophrenic disorder would have stunted his self-expression.
“I learned to be outspoken with my feelings and ideas,” said Hudspeth, who graduated Friday from the construction technology program. “I’ve learned to be open about myself. I have no problem telling people about my experiences in the past or what’s happening now.”
The fate of the former Army and Navy General Hospital that has been the campus’ flagship building since 1960 has preoccupied the community since the sudden announcement in May that the state would be abandoning it at the end of the year.
While the civic implications, which include the shedding of more than 100 jobs from the local economy, of another downtown landmark sitting idle have been at the fore of the community discussion, the loss of the state’s only residential vocational rehabilitation program has barely registered.
ARS Director of Communications Chip McAfee said Wednesday that the $7.5 million to $8 million a year the agency will save by ending the program will be put into nonresidential services.
The 2019 Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment that recommended the closure said partnerships ACTI develops across the state will create training programs similar to what was offered at the Hot Springs campus, but the exact parameters of the new model are still taking shape.
“We are currently studying labor market data and future trends to help determine the best use of those savings in order to help more Arkansans with disabilities,” McAfee said.
The three graduates said the panoply of services ACTI provides may be difficult to transfer to a community setting. Accessing them through ARS’ 19 field offices may not be possible for people with ambulatory issues or who lack transportation, they said.
“It’s just a shame that a great service like ACTI’s residential program is going to go away,” Vest said. “It’s going to take a higher functioning person to drive back and forth to a nonresidential program.”
The residential program’s discontinuation has been framed as an efficiency issue, with the state citing a success rate it said did not justify ACTI’s $11 million budget and per-student spending. The needs assessment said ARS spent $44,587 per student in 2018 and $201,857 per “successful completer.” Much of the funding comes from federal money ARS receives from the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Education.
ACTI leadership said in July that its funders evaluate it based on the number of students who find and maintain employment in their field of study within a year of leaving campus. Data ARS provided in response to a public records request showed from 2011 to 2018 ACTI had 704 students in that category. Over that same time, 860 students failed to meet the standard.
Danna Wolters said her daughter would be deemed a failure by that measure. Darci Wolters is not employed in the health care field she studied at ACTI, but she has a full-time job nonetheless and the soft skills and confidence to live a life of independence.
“They’re only using quantitative numbers — who’s in a job in the program they graduated from in one year,” Danna Wolters said. “But what about in three to five years? There needs to be a qualitative study with somebody sitting down with us for an interview.”
Darci Wolters worries others like her may not get the help they need in a community-based setting.
“I loved my journey (at ACTI),” she said. “For me, it was a remarkable place. It saddens me that other people who I feel need it aren’t going to receive it.”