Independent Living
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Youth Transition
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Support Coordination
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Education & Advocacy
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Our Mission
We are a non-residential, consumer-controlled, community-based, 501c3 nonprofit organization . We provide information, instruction and support for people living with disability, their families, friends and allies in the community . It is our mission to promote public awareness and barrier-free access in the community while supporting individual choice, advancing the independent living philosophy, promoting the civil rights and inclusion of all people living with disabilities.
Advocacy
We offer both individual and systems advocacy. Individual advocacy is available to a consumer with a disability-related issue. Systems advocacy involves consumers working together to change policies and practices on a wide scale.
Information & Referral
We provide information about disability issues and referrals to other agencies and organizations in the area that serve individuals with disabilities and their families.
Independent Living Skills Instruction
We offer both individualized and group independent living skills instruction to help consumers develop and enhance the skills needed to live independently. This can range from personal budgeting to mobility training to social skills.
Peer Support
We provide peer support to individuals with disabilities both individually and in a group setting. Peer support is the sharing of experiences by and between two or more individuals with a disability and can help with the development of positive coping skills.
Nursing Home Diversion & Transition
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Youth Transition
We offer Pre-ETS training to high school students in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. WIOA Pre-ETS services are available to high school students with disabilities. These services are offered through DVRS so that young people can acquire the skills and supportive services necessary for competitive, integrated employment.
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Our History
MOCEANS Center for Independent Living, Inc, is a consumer-driven, consumer-controlled organization serving people with disabilities, their families, friends and allies in the community. At MOCEANS we offer programs, skills, connections and guidance that help people who are living with disability choose how they live, work, and participate in the life of their community.
- Originally formed as a project of the Consumer Advisory Council on the Disabled, (CACOD, Inc), which provide independent living services to people with disabilities throughout the state of New Jersey. CACOD existed from 1979 and operated for 12 years.
- In 1988 CACOD, Inc. secured permanent funding from the New Jersey Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, (NJDVRS), to establish an independent living center. The following year, the funding was used to establish Monmouth-Ocean Independent Living Center, Inc.
- After several years of operation, Monmouth-Ocean ILC’s name was shortened to MOCEANS ILC which is an incorporation of both Monmouth and Ocean counties, the center’s catchment areas.
- MOCEANS ILC continued to diversify its funding and services by applying for and receiving various state and county contracts and grants in areas of personal assistant services, recreation, system change and assistive technology.
- In the summer of 1995, NJDVRS in compliance with Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1992, mandated that CACOD, Inc. and MOCEANS ILC separate and that the center become its own free-standing, non-profit center for independent living.
 
 
 
 
- By spring of 1996, through the hard work of consumers and the support of CACOD, Inc. Board of Directors, NJDVRS, and the New Jersey Statewide Independent Living Council, (NJSILC), MOCEANS ILC was officially established as center for independent living.
- At the annual meeting in the spring of 1996, as a result of priorities identified in the strategic planning process implemented by the Board of Directors, the membership voted to change the organization’s name from MOCEANS Independent Living Center, Inc. to MOCEANS Center for Independent Living, Inc.
- This decision was a result of the need for the organization to identify itself primarily as a Center for Independent Living and to promote itself accordingly. A formal name change was approved by the State of New Jersey in October of the same year.
- In April of 1996, MOCEANS CIL was incorporated and in April 1997, MOCEANS received its 501(c)3 nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service.
 
 
 
Over the next two years, all of CACOD, Inc. contracts, grants and all other fiscal responsibilities were successfully transferred to MOCEANS CIL without any interruption of services to any consumer.
MOCEANS’ outreach into the community is well established, working with a myriad of agencies, businesses, organizations and schools to further its mission and opportunities for people with disabilities in the communities throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
Our Board of Directors
John Nicklin
Chairman
Christine L. Matus, Esq.
Vice-Chairperson
Matthew Brazinski
Treasurer
Chris Miller
Director
Chris Miller is the Assistant to the Policy Director at Disability Rights New Jersey. He Studied Political Science, BA at Monmouth University, and is a life-long resident of Neptune City, New Jersey
James Stewart
Secretary
Adam Weisberg
Director
Criminal Law (Defense, Prosecution), Domestic Violence representing victims, Workers’ Compensation representing injured workers.
Judyth Brown, MS Ed
Executive Director
GREGG HOBBIE
Director
Participate in formal hearings, submit facts, arguments, offers of settlement or proposals of adjustment, and communicate with other counsel and ALJs.