The history of Russell Child Development Center begins in 1965 with the organization of a day care for children with developmental disabilities. The first location was the Optimist Building in Garden City. Then Mrs. Ruth Ball rented her parents’ old home on 9th street to the Garden City Association for Retarded Children. In exchange for the $1.00 a year rent, she asked only that the Center be named for her parents--Vashti and Marion Russell. This house was lost to urban renewal and the center was moved three more times.
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Russell Child Development Center
History
 
Russell Child Development Center (RCDC) is a community based, not for profit organization with a mission “to lay a foundations of success for all young children and their families through the delivery of high quality inclusive services.” Its based office is located in Garden City with 39 employees providing services throughout Southwest Kansas. RCDC is governed by a 10 member Board of Directors made up of parent and community representatives. RCDC has evolved into an organization with a focus on early childhood programming. Over the years, RCDC has grown considerably, and now serves as the “umbrella agency” for six different grants and programs. These include the tiny-k Early Intervention Program, RCDC’s Targeted Case Management Program, Child (and Adult) Food Care Program, Child Care Aware® of Southwest Kansas Program, Smart Start Southwest Kansas Project and the Learn and Play Early Childhood Block Grant. The tiny-k Early Intervention Program (Part C of IDEA Early Intervention), provides services for children birth to 3 in 12 counties (Finney, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Morton, Scott, Stanton, Stevens and Wichita). Early childhood special education services are provided at no cost for eligible infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families in home and community based settings. RCDC’s Targeted Case Management Program is available in 13 counties (all those served by the tiny-k program plus Seward) for eligible children ages birth to 5 with significant developmental delays and/or disabilities. Services include case management, special equipment, medical travel assistance, health supplies or help with other needs not met by other programs. The Child (and Adult) Care Food Program provides food reimbursement and nutritional support to licensed childcare providers in 10 counties (Finney, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Scott, Seward and Wichita). Child Care Aware® of Southwest Kansas serves 26 counties (see tiny-k and targeted case management above, plus Gray, Ford, Hodgeman, Meade, Clark, Pawnee, Edwards, Kiowa, Comanche, Barton, Stafford, Pratt and Barber). This program provides support to child care providers by providing training, technical assistance and comprehensive data collection. It also serves as an informational link to the Child Care Aware® of Kansas call center where parents can find out about available child care in their area. Smart Start Southwest Kansas serves children birth to age 5 in 13 counties (see tiny-k and targeted case management above). The project provides flexible funding for community programs serving young children with an overall goal of helping children enter school healthy and ready to succeed. Smart Start goals include increasing the availability and accessibility of early learning opportunities, community support services and quality child care. Funding assistance is provided to a wide variety of community partners including public libraries and health departments, preschools and child care centers, early childhood agencies and programs, and families. The Learn and Play Project supports collaborative community partnerships in Gray, Meade, Clark, and Hodgeman counties to increase the availability of quality, inclusive, evidence-based early learning opportunities in rural areas. Regularly scheduled “play group” meetings for children birth to age 5 involve their parents and caregivers in activities designed to enhance learning and development.