ated $116, 000 as a matching fund to create day-care centers for retar-
dates in any local subdivision of the State that wishes to apply.

Of course, the program of education in the State could not have suc-
ceeded without the specialized services of teachers. The University of
Maryland has established a department of Special Education to train
these teachers. The enrollment in this program has jumped from 60 in
1957, when it was started, to 235 this fall.

Our Legislature also has appropriated the money to set up two major
clinics for the diagnosis and evaluation of children with multiple handi-
caps. One of these is at the Johns Hopkins University and the other at
the University of Maryland. There a child has access to all the specialist
services and tests that are required in treatment.

Three years ago, it was my privilege to open formally a new dental
center for handicapped children at Children's Hospital in Baltimore.
I was very favorably impressed by the work that was being undertaken
there. The project is financed by state, federal and private funds.

Employment is another area in which your State government has
attempted to help the retarded. The State Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation has developed a program to evaluate and train retardates.
The result has been that many previously unemployed Marylanders now
fill productive places in the State's economy, to their own benefit and
to the benefit of the State as a whole.

Among the pilot programs of our Department of Mental Hygiene is
one for the day care of mentally retarded children in a day-care center
for a small number of nonresidential patients at Rosewood State Train-
ing School. This program is designed to give pre-school experience to
these children that will allow them to proceed in public education at an
accelerated pace.

Yes, after so many years of neglect, Maryland at least has started to
make great advancements in the care, treatment and education of the
mentally retarded boys and girls of our State. We all acknowledge that
there is a great deal more to be done. With the generous, public-
spirited assistance of organizations such as we have represented here
today, I am sure that we will enjoy continued success in our noble effort.

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