Capstone Adaptive Learning and Therapy Centers, Inc.

CAPSTONE ADAPTIVE LEARNING AND THERAPY CENTERS, INC.

Our mission is to advance the independence for children and adults with a spectrum of abilities and disabilities.

History of Organization

For 69 years Capstone Adaptive Learning and Therapy Centers (f/k/a United Cerebral Palsy of Northwest Florida or UCP) has advocated for inclusion and opportunity for individuals of all ages, ethnicities, and gender, with developmental disabilities.  Since 1953, we have successfully developed and implemented cutting-edge programs and services for children and students in our community who are primarily on Medicaid, low income, and have significant physical, medical, and cognitive disabilities.

Capstone's educational and therapeutic programs consist of: Charter school, child care, group homes, day programs (adults and high-schoolers), occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and nursing services, to name a few.

Capstone planned, designed, and launched Capstone Academy Pensacola in 2004, the FIRST and ONLY inclusive charter school in Northwest Florida for 3 to age 5.  This program site hosts a public charter school, voluntary pre-kindergarten, early intervention therapies, and after school programs for children with and without developmental disabilities or delays.

In 2014/2015 Capstone announced to the community a new name – Capstone Adaptive Learning and Therapy Centers, Inc.  Our stakeholders have embraced Capstone’s name change.  For those served directly in Capstone programs, the new name no longer focuses on a disability, but on what one CAN do.  Due to growth and the expansion of Capstone services and programs the former name – UCP – no longer defined who we were nor those we served.

To better serve youth and adults in Santa Rosa County, we opened an adult day training program in Milton in 2018.

In 2021 nearly 1,600 infants, children, youth, and adults with and without developmental disabilities (autism/autism spectrum, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, etc.) and their families were assisted in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties through Capstone’s many programs.

Programs and Services:

Adult Day Programs (Pensacola: 2912 North E Street and 2600 West Fairfield Drive and Milton: 5326 Stewart Street):  85 individuals are served at our 100% accessible facilities at 3 locations.  Adult Day Programs are open Monday through Friday. 

We provide specialized healthcare, therapies and nursing services; skills training; and personal care for youth and adults with severe developmental disabilities.  Mobility and repositioning services, critical to our adult population, prevent regression in physical capabilities, lessen skin breakdown, and decrease short-term (ER visits) and long-term (nursing home) medical costs.  Some of the direct care offered at our day programs include medical oversight, feeding, toileting, community integration, mobility, and addressing quality of life issues, socialization, and health/safety.

Families rely on Capstone to provide a day program that engages their adult children (most are medically and physically complex wheelchair users) while they are at work.  Capstone helps keep some people from institutionalization (nursing homes), thus decreasing costs to taxpayers and increasing quality of life for clients and their families.

The High School-to-Work Transition Program at the Transition Employment Center (TEC) (2600 West Fairfield Drive) provides students ages 14-22 with opportunities to develop appropriate social skills while continuing their educational experience.  Curriculum prepares students for adult life after graduation in which they are able to secure a job or volunteer service, thus becoming as independent as possible.

Thanks to a grant from Sunday’s Child for our project called Capstone Pet Barkery, students attending TEC gain practical job experience and interpersonal skills while running a business of baking nutritious pet treats.  Treats are being sold at Capstone Pet Place, farmers’ markets, and area businesses.

A training program at 5326 Stewart Street, Milton is called Student Skills Training Program and Capstone Pet Place.  Thanks to a Pensacola Bay Area Impact 100 grant and individual donors, Capstone students are learning all aspects of running a retail pet supply store where they acquire job and interpersonal skills desired by area businesses.  In addition, we have partnered with local animal rescue groups/shelters to host pet adoption days and provide spay and neuter information to pet owners.  North Santa Rosa County is a woefully under-served area for children, youth and adults with developmental disabilities.

Most students attending one of our day programs require transportation to and from their program.  We have a fleet of 10 vehicles, most of which are wheelchair accessible vans/buses.

Capstone owns and operates 4 wheelchair accessible group homes for 28 youth and adults to be part of their community and to live safely, play, learn, and receive the nursing/personal care services they need. 

Our Children’s Therapy Clinics provide a one-of-a-kind “complete” therapy clinic (4901 West Fairfield Drive, Pensacola) for area children, birth to 22 years old.  Our clinic include speech language pathologist, occupational, behavioral, and physical therapists working as a team to increase the infants’ and children’s communication, fine motor, gross motor, behavioral, and feeding/swallowing skills.  Early Intervention services for children birth to 3 who need occupational, physical, and/or speech therapies are also available.

Capstone Academy Milton Child Care Center is located at 5308 Stewart Street.  We provide a quality child-centered school readiness and developmentally appropriate curriculum and Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) for over 50 infants to 5 year olds from primarily low-income working families and teen parents.

Capstone developed and operates the only charter school in Northwest Florida – Capstone Academy – for children ages 3 to 6 years old primarily diagnosed with autism spectrum and/or other developmental disabilities. Many of the children also receive physical, occupational, and/or speech therapies as part of their individual education plan (IEP).  Our Time after school/summer child care is for school-aged children with special needs.  Nearly 150 children are served each year at Capstone Academy.

Nursing oversight and care is provided FREE at all Capstone day programs, thus allowing medically complex children, youth, and adults (who require nursing care) to attend programs where they engage in meaningful day activities, therefore realizing an improved quality of life.  RN/LPNs ensure each student/child receives medical care such as breathing treatments, injections, tube feeding, suctioning, repositioning, medication administration and supervision, etc.  Due to our clientele, ALL Capstone programs have access to our full-time/on-staff nurses.  Nurses are on call 24/7.

Our Medical Scheduler/Transporter schedules and takes group home residents to doctor, dental, and specialists’ office visits.  Many residents have no family, or their parents are elderly who are unable to take them for annual checkups (breast exams, teeth cleaning, prostate, etc.).  All group home residents attend 1 of Capstone’s 2 ADT programs in Pensacola, thus Capstone provides for their health, safety and welfare 24/7.