Cathy Ficker Terrill Announces Retirement From Ray Graham Association

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 15, 2010

After 34 years of leadership including 16 years at Ray Graham Association, Cathy Ficker Terrill, a champion advocate and practitioner in the field of developmental disabilities, has decided to pursue a reduced workload and enter into semi-retirement. According to Ficker Terrill, she will have more time for other pursuits while continuing her allegiance and ongoing relationship with Ray Graham. She will stay on in her current capacity until her successor is named: “The agency is in great shape. We have a balanced budget. We are fully staffed. We are blessed with strong leadership especially at the board and executive levels and our staff and individuals that we serve and support are the very best,” said Ficker Terrill.

Ficker Terrill is a pioneer in the Human Services field and was instrumental in guiding Ray Graham and the industry in replacing the “workshop” model of employment to a more person-centered approach. This approach applies not only to employment services but extends to all aspects of care for individuals with disabilities. As a result, Ray Graham has grown to be one of the largest agencies providing service and supports to nearly 2,000 individuals with disabilities and operating 35 locations throughout DuPage County. Those vital services and supports include Community Learning Centers (Adult Day Services), Early Intervention, Employment, Home-Based Service Facilitation, Recreation, Residential, Respite, Transition Services and Transportation.

Cathy has been making a difference in every life she has touched as a professional in the field of disabilities. Through Cathy’s leadership, Ray Graham Association supports people with disabilities to live fulfilling and meaningful lives as independently as possible in their communities.  She is the past President of the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) and has been the President of Illinois Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH).  President Bill Clinton appointed her for two terms on the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation.  She also served as the Director of the Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, where she founded one of the first projects on dual diagnosis.  She helped to write and assure passage of the Illinois Early Intervention Act, The Family Support Act, and the Transition Act.  These three progressive laws have expanded access to Early Intervention, provided cash subsidies to children and adults with mental health needs and developmental disabilities, and mandated transition services for young adults.  In January 2009, Cathy was named to the Special Education Funding Task Force by Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno.

Under Ficker Terrill’s tenure Ray Graham became the first organization in the world to receive a 4-year Accreditation with the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), a not-for-profit international organization dedicated to the definition, measurement, and improvement of personal and community quality of life for people with disabilities. According to James F. Gardner President and CEO of CQL, “Our colleagues at CQL have not yet encountered a system as well designed and implemented as that operated by Ray Graham Association. We are using it as a model for other organizations to emulate.”

Locally, Cathy volunteers for many organizations, including Elmhurst Hospital Board of Directors,  Council on Quality and Leadership Board of Directors Chairperson, Elmhurst College ELSA Advisory Board, Life’s Plan Special Needs Trust Board of Directors, Mental Disability Rights International Board of Directors, League of Women’s Voters, RTA Community Advisory Committee Co-chair, University of Illinois Center for Excellence on Disabilities Chairperson; past President Elmhurst Morning Rotary, past Chairperson Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities, and past Board Member for the DuPage Family Disability Network.

Thanks to Cathy’s leadership, determination, innovative thinking and unwavering drive, Ray Graham Association continues to provide alternative, successful models of supports and services for people with disabilities and their families, thus empowering these individuals to live full and meaningful lives in their communities. 

Board Chairperson Laura Sakas had this to say: "Cathy Ficker Terrill has been an extraordinary leader and advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities.  Her work has been dedicated to making life better and more fulfilling not only for clients of RGA but also for individuals with disabilities across the United States.  I am honored to have worked with her and be part of the RGA family."

Chief of Staff Kathy Carmody stated: “Cathy’s leadership and presence has had an immeasurable impact on us as an organization, and on countless people at a more personal level.  Cathy is exceptionally unique in having such a profound impact on public policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families at the local, state and national levels, and then coming back to an agency and actually putting those policies into action.  Despite the responsibility and schedule she maintains, Cathy has always stayed connected to staff, individuals and families.  Her impact can be seen and her departure will be felt at all levels throughout the organization.  We have been fortunate to have had Cathy with us for as long as we have; our testimony to her long tenure with this organization will be to continue in the path she has so capably charted for us.”

We wish Cathy well as she looks forward to teaching, writing, consulting and mentoring young leaders.