New USM Gulf Park facility will allow DuBard School and The Children’s Center to expand services

Special to Long Beach Breeze

Thanks to a $7.9 million federal grant and a generous $4.5 million anonymous donation, a shared facility on The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) Gulf Park campus designed to expand the life-changing services offered by the DuBard School for Language Disorders and The Children’s Center for Communication and Development will soon take shape.

The new facility will feature more than 25,000-square-feet on the Gulf Park campus in Long Beach, and it will double the programs’ capacity to serve children with developmental disabilities, communication challenges and other special needs—a long-needed solution to both growing space needs and transportation barriers.

The building will be designed to meet the distinct needs of both programs, and will include classrooms, therapy rooms, observation spaces and a multi-purpose area.

DuBard School, established in 1962, provides specialized support for children ages three to thirteen with severe speech-language disorders. The Children’s Center, founded in 1974, supports children, birth to age five, to achieve developmental milestones through its interdisciplinary approach. Collectively, they have served more than 5,000 children since they were established.

“Based on state data and other statistics available through the Mississippi Department of Health, we know that approximately 600 children in the lower six counties are eligible for early intervention services and an additional 2,600 children are eligible for special education services,” said Dr. Lachel Story, dean of the USM College of Nursing and Health Professions, where both programs are housed.

DuBard School and The Children’s Center also offer professional and pre-professional training as practicum sites for university students majoring in speech-language pathology, audiology, dyslexia therapy and other related fields.

“With a larger blueprint for services on the Gulf Coast, the capacity of these academic programs will expand,” added Story. “We will be able to teach more providers of early intervention services, which will address a provider shortage felt deeply throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

Both programs currently operate at maximum capacity in their current locations, with long waiting lists that can delay crucial intervention.

“Ninety percent of a child’s brain develops before age five. For children with disabilities, the timeliness of intervention is crucial for child and family success,” said Sarah Myers, director and speech-language pathologist for The Children’s Center.

For decades, the programs have been vital to Mississippi families. On average, The Children’s Center serves families across thirty-one school districts and twenty-one counties. While they have operated out of a small Gulf Park office for several years, it has also met its current maximum capacity for families served on campus. As is, DuBard School children commute from twenty to twenty-five different school districts in fifteen to twenty counties.

“Over a year ago, we were unable to serve a student from our Gulf Coast community. The family just couldn’t make the drive each day. We’re thrilled to share that student will be one of the first to be served on our Gulf Park campus,” said DuBard School Interim Director Alison Webster, Ph.D. “By increasing our capacity, we can offer specialized services to more children who need these essential therapies. We can reduce wait times and ensure that no child needing our support experiences unnecessary delays.”

“This shared space will not only transform the lives of the children we serve, but also serve as a beacon for evidence-based practices across the state,” said Myers. “Most importantly, this expansion will meet the needs of families for years to come.”

To learn more about the facility or to make a gift, contact Briana Dubaz Pfarrer with the USM Foundation at 228-243-8333.