Health Connect America Announces Launchpad Program to Teach Skills that Enable Independence. The Launchpad Program was designed to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities lead more independent lives.

Health Connect America (HCA), a provider of mental and behavioral health services, today announced a new program called Launchpad, which helps individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities gain skills to create more personal independence.

The Launchpad Program was designed to help those with disabilities learn key life skills in order to become self-sufficient. The program focuses on six life skills including money management, physical and mental health, wellness, independent living and employment rights. Using a person-centered approach, participants are able to customize their program and focus on the skills they need. The program lessons are taught in the participant’s community and home, creating a “launching pad” from their existing support system.

“Launchpad is a community-based program with the goal of helping our clients develop skills that provide greater personal responsibility for their own lives through self-advocacy, social awareness and daily living skills that decrease dependence on their parents and caregivers,” said Sandy Krikac, Launchpad director. “We believe this is a very positive direction for a population that is historically underserved.”

To address the need to scale services to a large unsupported population, the Launchpad Program is currently being piloted in Franklin, Tennessee at the company’s headquarters as an affordable private pay option.

“We are investigating private pay programs in order to expand our services and connect more directly with the communities where our clients live,” said Kristi Shain, chief executive officer of Health Connect America. “There are 7,000 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Tennessee alone waiting to be approved for services. Launchpad is our first effort to address this need by creating an affordable program that offers real value to our clients and their families.”

HCA currently has four clients utilizing the Launchpad Program and anticipates growth to 15 in the near term. The Company is expecting to rapidly expand and more than double over the next year, with programs across multiple states serviced by HCA.