LIMA — The Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities appointed its new superintendent during a regular board meeting Tuesday night.
Theresa Schnipke will replace Esther Baldridge, who is retiring from the position Dec. 1. Baldridge had been superintendent of the board since 1992.
Schnipke comes to the position with 25 years of experience serving people with developmental disabilities. Since 2010, she has worked as service and support administration manager for the board. She came to the Allen County board in 1998 after working for the Seneca County Board of DD and Advocacy and Protective Services, Inc.
“Her vision for services for people with disabilities is excellent,” Baldridge said of Schnipke. “She truly cares and she’s really ready and able to take this on.”
The superintendent change comes at a tumultuous time for the board. Currently, the board employs all but one staff member at Marimor Industries, a nonprofit organization that employs people with developmental disabilities. The board had previously been reimbursed by Medicaid for the services it provided at Marimor, but the federal government has said this creates a conflict of interest because the board provides Medicaid services and administers Medicaid funds.
As a result, the board will lose roughly 100 staff members.
“Marimor will now be hiring all the staff and be providing the services that are reimbursed by Medicaid,” Baldridge said.
Schnipke said she will do her best to lead her staff through this period of transition.
“The nice thing is I won’t be doing it alone,” Schnipke said. “We have some very dedicated, talented staff here who have really good ideas, so I think its just pulling it all together, taking it one step at a time and figuring out what’s next.”
Baldridge said she will serve as assistant superintendent after Dec. 1 to help with the transition.
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