About

Northeast Contemporary Services, Inc. (NCSI) was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the name North St. Paul Children’s Center, originally providing services to 11 children with developmental disabilities who were ineligible for public education services due to their age or the severity of their disability.

When legislation passed mandating provision of public education services for children/youth with developmental disabilities ages 5-21, NCSI revised its services to provide a pre-school program for children ages 2-5 and services for adults ages 21 and older.

NCSI’s service for adults, which had been providing life enrichment programs as a Developmental Achievement Center, began offering vocational training and paid work opportunities via businesses that contracted with NCSI to perform work at NCSI’s location.

In response to a request from Ramsey County, NCSI established a Day Training & Habilitation service specifically for retired people (typically ages 50 and older) with developmental disabilities, providing community-and facility-based supports.

NCSI’s pre-school program, which was serving 35 children, was discontinued with the implementation of legislation that transferred responsibility for the provision of pre-school services for children with developmental disabilities to public education programs.

NCSI’s service for adults, which was now licensed as a DT&H, began assisting people with developmental disabilities to secure employment with businesses in the community, individually or in a small work crew, thus helping to fulfill workforce needs.

NCSI established its Transportation Service, which still provides specialized transportation services for the vast majority of the people receiving services from NCSI, including rides to and from our facilities, to and from employment sites, and to and from community outings.

NCSI was granted a license to provide Supported Employment Services (SES), which allowed a person to access employment-related supports such retraining needed due to significant changes in job responsibilities, upgrades or replacement of equipment, etc.

In step with a state-wide initiative, NCSI’s licenses to provide DT&H and SES services under Minnesota Statute 245B were converted to a single Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) license under Minnesota Statute 245D.

NCSI’s Employment & Volunteerism Service achieved an all-time high in securing competitive integrated employment with 44% of people served working in the community and earning minimum wage or higher directly paid by their employers.

NCSI enhanced its services through new community partnerships: with Northern Star Council to provide Scouting programs, with White Bear Area YMCA to house its Senior Service, and with MN State Arts Board and Upstream Arts to provide an arts residency.

NCSI began outsourcing its Route Transportation to Newtrax, Inc., a nonprofit specializing in transportation for people with disabilities and seniors. In addition, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NCSI started its first remote program “NCSI@Home.”

NCSI became a contractor with the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development to provide Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

NCSI moved its Senior Service from White Bear Lake to co-locate with its Adult Service in Roseville.