Lawrence County Developmental Disabilities is a publicly funded program serving children and
adults in the rural, Appalachian foothills of Southern Ohio.
In the 1960s, parents with children who had disbailities in Lawrence County came together to provide education and socialization of their children. As similar family engagement occurred across the state, Ohio’s legislature created Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities boards to serve individuals with multiple handicaps across the state. In the fall of 2009, the term “Mental Retardation” was omitted from the title so that the organizations became known as the Board of Developmental Disabilities in their respective counties. In January 2018, we dropped the "Board of" all together to be known simply as Lawrence County Developmental Disabilities (LCDD).
Accredited by the Ohio Dept. of Developmental Disabilities, LCDD currently serves over 500 individuals with disabilities annually. These include:
• Early Intervention (birth - age 3) and Preschool (ages 3 - 5) located at the Early Childhood Center, and which is accredited by the Ohio Dept. of Education and certified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children;
• Open Door School (ages 6 - 21) which is certified by the Ohio Dept. of Education; and
• Service and Support Administration (birth - adulthood).
LCDD is subject to the laws and regulations of the State of Ohio, including ORC 5126, ORC 124 and other civil service laws, ORC 4117 governing collective bargaining, rules of the Department of Developmental Disabilities, rules of the Ohio Department of Education, federal employment laws and regulations, policies established by LCDD, and negotiated management and labor contracts. LCDD makes every effort to comply with all laws and regulations, and its negotiated management and labor contracts, and has committed itself to provide professional services for the betterment of the community it serves
Organizationally, LCDD consists of a Superintendent who is the appointing authority, and who reports directly to a governing board. The Superintendent directly or indirectly manages all employees of LCDD who are assigned to variety of jobs, with each job being a fundamentally important to the provision of our operations and services.