We asked parents and family members why they chose CLO to serve their loved one.

Howard and Ellen Duncan:

"CLO was a pioneer in serving people with developmental disabilities when we were looking for services when our son, Jimmy, was 22 and no longer qualified for special education. CLO was the better choice; it was better than any of the alternatives. Jimmy first moved into Mastin House when it first opened (in 1989). He's lived in Lawrence since CLO expanded in 1991, and we are happy with the lifestyle he now has in a family-teaching home. CLO may not be perfect - no place is, of course - but it's still the best thing going for people like our son."

CLO's Organizational Background

Our mission is to help adults and children with severe developmental disabilities achieve personally satisfying and fulfilling lifestyles.

Community Living Opportunities is a non-profit organization formed in 1977 by a group of parents in Johnson County, Kansas whose children have severe and multiple disabilities. The concept behind CLO is groundbreaking, compassionate and extremely functional. The agency was created as an alternative to state institutions and became one of the pioneers in providing community-based services to people with developmental disabilities. The parent group organized, incorporated, and recruited a board of directors, advisors, and consultants that included professionals dedicated to progressive academic research and socially inclusive programming (including James Sherman, Ph.D. and Jan Sheldon, Ph.D., from the Department of Human Development and Family Life at the University of Kansas).

CLO's Board of Directors break ground at Conser House.

CLO's services were highly effective from the start and were based on dignity, respect, and positive reinforcement, with family style interventions provided in the home community, close to family and friends. In the last 25 years CLO has grown dramatically and its expansion continues steadily as the state of Kansas systematically downsizes its institutions. Today CLO implements several unique treatment models developed in partnership with the Applied Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Kansas, including the Family Teaching Model, the Quality of Life Planning, Early Childhood Autism Program and the Family Enhancement Program.

Currently CLO serves over 300 children and adults with developmental disabilities primarily in Douglas and Johnson Counties and employs over 400 staff members. We provide targeted case management, residential services, which includes family-teaching and extended family-teaching homes, day services, behavioral consultation, children's services, health care services, training and staff certification and organizational behavior management consulting.

CLO believes in active family involvement and the majority of the board of directors is comprised of family members. Our guiding principle is that every person should be treated with utmost dignity and respect and provided with as many rights and opportunities for free choice as possible.

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