Our History

In 1971, DDI Vantage was organized and registered as a 501 (c) (3) entity when a group of parents and professionals recognized that infants and toddlers with disabilities required and deserved specialized services that were not available in Utah. With a small grant, Athleen Godfrey RN and Garth Meyers MD organized a small program that provided early health and education intervention to children under three years of age. The number of children served by DDI in the first couple of years is unclear, but in 1973 it served 55 children.

In the beginning, DDI Vantage was housed in a small donated area below Primary Children’s Hospital (now Primary Children’s Medical Center). Soon after its organization, DDI Vantage received funding from the Division of Family Services to provide not only health and development services for children under three years but also preschool services for children between three and five years of age. DDI Vantage operated preschool programs for children with disabilities for years before the public school system was charged with those responsibilities.

1988 Brings Growth including Adult and Youth Services

In 1988, the birth-to-three component of the program was brought under the administration of the Utah Department of Health Baby Watch Early Intervention Program (BWEIP), and the Utah State Office of Education became the lead agency for the three-to-five preschool component. In that same year, DDI entered into a contract with BWEIP to provide Early Intervention (EI) services to all children in Salt Lake County under the age of three years, except for Jordan School District, which developed its own EI program. For a time, DDI also provided EI services in the Park City area of Wasatch County. It was also given the responsibility to provide EI services in Tooele County.

Also in 1988, DDI entered into a contract with the Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) to provide supported employment services to adults with disabilities, and with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to provide supported job-based training to adults with disabilities. Since 1988, the provision of adult services has grown beyond supported employment and supported job-based training to include supported living, personal budget assistance, respite care, chore services, homemaker services, and family support. In 2009, the name of the program was changed to Adult and Youth Services (AYS), to more accurately reflect the broader scope of services offered.

 

Adding Duchesne Services in 1997
In 1997, Duchesne School District opted out of its contract with BWEIP to provide EI services in Duchesne County, and BWEIP invited DDI Vantage to assume the contract. Services in Duchesne County were initially supervised remotely from Salt Lake City, but local facilities and leadership were in place by 2004.

Adding Early Head Start Services in 2004
In 2003, DDI Vantage wrote and submitted a grant application for 60 slots with the Office of Head Start. The grant was awarded and the DDI Vantage Early Head Start (EHS) program began services in January 2004. In 2006, DDI Vantage purchased and renovated a building located in Taylorsville, to be used by the EHS program. In 2009, an expansion grant grew the enrollment slots to 148, and additional facilities were opened in Salt Lake City and Tooele to accommodate the expansion of staff and services.

Adding Early Head Start Child Care in 2014
In 2014 DDI Vantage wrote a grant for EHS child care slots. This grant was awarded in January of 2015. This allowed us to create partnerships with six centers, and funded 66 slots, although many more children within the child care classrooms benefit from this grant.