The Lyon County Association for Retarded Children was formed by a group of parents of children with developmental disabilities and interested citizens of Emporia for the purpose of providing training facilities for those children not eligible for public school special education classes. This parent group, along with the volunteers, worked long and hard for something in which they believed. Without money, without a building, without many other things, but with strong determination and great fortitude, they set about providing something for their retarded children.
In September of 1961, classes started in a single upstairs room at the Emporia Recreation Center with five children enrolled. When the state declared this room unsafe for the children, Dr. John King, President of Kansas State Teachers College, gave them the use of a vacant fraternity house on the college campus. At the end of the first year, twelve children were enrolled and there were twenty volunteer workers serving them. During the second year, a teacher was hired and a five day a week program for two hours each morning was begun. Children from Lyon, Coffey, Greenwood and Chase counties attended. Faced with this rapid growth, it became apparent to the parents and volunteers that additional space was required. Judge Jay Sullivan and other interested citizens saw to it that, through the generosity of various individual estates, funds were made available to construct a new facility at 707 South Commercial Street. This building, constructed in 1965, was the first building in Kansas to be used specifically for the education of retarded children.
In March of 1969, bids were let for the construction of a sheltered workshop. While awaiting completion of the new building, eight clients performed subcontract work in a small metal building. In January 1971, an addition approximately double the size of the original building was completed. The sheltered workshop was a separate corporation. On July 1, 1972, the Duane F. Hetlinger Memorial Sheltered Workshop and the Lyon County Association for Retarded Children merged into a single corporate entity and functioned under one board of directors. On July 1, 1974, the facility changed its name to the Hetlinger Developmental Center and Sheltered Workshop, Inc.
With the state mandate on special education adopted by Kansas in 1973/74, all school age children were transferred to a variety of special level classes in the public school system. This had been the long term goal of the founding mothers and fathers. While the facility was changed from an all purpose school for the mentally retarded and other disabilities, it continued with the sheltered workshop program. An infant stimulation program and a pre-school non-categorical program were operated under a cooperative agreement between Hetlinger Developmental Center and Sheltered Workshop, Inc., and the Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative until 1989 when the school district assumed full responsibility for the children's programs.
The consumers receiving services in the sheltered workshop are paid for their productive work. Industries provide subcontracts which are performed by the workshop clients. Last year's gross income from this work was $160,900 with approximately 75% being returned to the consumers in wages.
It costs, on the average, approximately $15,600 per year to serve a consumer in the facility. Funding comes from many sources. Home and Community Based Services, a funding source though Medicaid, pays for eligible individuals. State general funds and county mill levy assists in the operation. Gracious gifts from interested people who have remembered Hetlinger in their wills have been most helpful in the general operation of the facility.
With the Developmental Disabilities Reform Act of 1995, the facility became the Community Developmental Disabilities Organization (CDDO) serving Lyon County. As such, the agency is the single point of application for all services for persons with developmental disabilities. In addition to serving Lyon, Hetlinger became the CDDO for Wabaunsee County in 1996 and for Morris and Chase Counties in 1997. After eligibility is determined, services are offered either directly or through an affiliate, according to the choice of the applicant. In September 1995, Restated and Amended Articles of Incorporation were adopted which included a name change to Hetlinger Developmental Services, Inc. The agency is licensed as a Community Service Provider by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The sheltered workshop holds certification from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The physical facility is nearly 42 years old and has served the organization well. A remodeling of the main building was completed in 1996, and a vast expansion project was completed in 2000. The facility is operated under the direction of a twelve member board of directors and is managed by an executive director. The Hetlinger Foundation, which was established in 2002 to support the charitable work of Hetlinger Developmental Services, Inc., has its own board of trustees.