The Jewish Vocational Service of Milwaukee has been chosen by the United States Government from among all similar agencies in the United States to develop a total community program for the mentally retarded and given a $600,000 grant to carry out the project.
Mrs. Isadore Weiss, president of the JVS, said the selection and the grant were made by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The Milwaukee agency was chosen because of its outstanding contributions in the field of service for the retarded. The project which the JVS will develop is based on a report of the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, Mrs. Weiss said.
The choice was based on a plan developed by the JVS executive director, Michael M. Galazan, which was submitted to the federal agency as a model for handling the problem throughout the United States.
Mrs. Weiss said that the JVS started its work with the retarded in a project in cooperation with the Milwaukee section of the National Council of Jewish Women begun in 1933. Since then, the JVS has received five grants from federal agencies for research and demonstration programs in the field.
Mr. Galazan said the project would be carried out in cooperation with the United Community Services, the Milwaukee County Institutions and Departments, the State Department of Public Welfare and the Milwaukee and suburban public school systems.
A principal goal of the project, he said, would be creation of a central information program for all retarded children and their parents in the community. A study of the needs of these children will be made, and the services needed will be established on a demonstration basis. All costs of the program will be covered by the federal grant.
Mr. Galazan said that the project would “develop a pattern of services and activities which will be reported to other communities in the country. They may then follow this model pattern in establishment of similar services and programs in their communities.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
