Since 1981, Sequoia Inc. has been recognized as a premier service provider for children and adults with developmental disabilities in Dallas, Denton, Johnson, and Tarrant Counties. Sequoia provides an array of services to clients throughout these counties, including: case management, skills training, respite care, and specialized therapies. Sequoia meets the needs of children and adults with developmental disabilities where they are, in various settings, providing services and treatment at home, school, work, or in our own residential facility. Sequoia’s skilled case managers, nurses and other professionals assist our clients to reach varying levels of self-sufficiency—with many eventually developing the skills necessary to live in semi-independent living arrangements, such as apartments or houses.
Sequoia’s clients require intensive and multi-tiered services and training. Sequoia provides adult residential living at two fully staffed homes located in Dallas County. Our women’s residential facility provides services to four women, from ages 54 to 60; our other residential facility services six men, ages 26 to 59. The average stay at our residential facilities is 8.5 years.
Obviously, the community’s need for high-quality residential facilities for children and adults with developmental disabilities is enormous and continues to put an overwhelming burden on families throughout north central Texas. To help meet this need, Sequoia annually serves another fifty-seven clients in other settings with specific and focused services.
Sequoia measures its success through the tangible improvements in the lives of the people we serve. Some of our clients achieve the ability to live semi-independently. Others complete high school; one is attending college, and several have competitive jobs in the community. These accomplishments seem ordinary to many, but for individuals with developmental disabilities, they are monumental and make a significant difference in not only our client’s quality of life, but also in the quality of life for the families who love them.
Sequoia is supported through private funds (10%-15%), private pay (1%-5%), and public funds (85%-90%) through the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS), which includes Medicaid Waivers. Unfortunately, the average wait for Medicaid Waivers is an astonishing 8 to 12 years. Sequoia, a pro-active member of the Private Providers Association of Texas (PPAT), rigorously advocates for regulatory and statutory changes to improve the system for our clients and others who need our services.