The organisation - originally called The Crippled Children's Society - has moved away from day programmes and institutional care and now focuses on community support roles and adapting to the individual needs of its clients.
''The focus is on the person,'' acting regional manager for CCS Disability Action Southern Mel Smith said.
''So it's not necessarily about what a diagnosis is, it's about what that means for the client.''
CCS provided support for between 200 and 300 people in Dunedin annually, and numbers had largely remained steady over the years, Miss Smith said.
Across the country, CCS Disability Action employs 900 people, has 16 branches and provides support to more than 5000 people every year.
However, the type of support required has changed markedly, with less focus on structured groups and day programmes and more focus on flexible care, such as carers taking clients on shopping trips, social excursions and assisting with home-based living tasks such as cooking and cleaning.
Miss Smith said CCS was increasingly getting involved with clients at a younger age and providing long-term support to people with higher and more complex levels of need - including those with mental illnesses.
CCS regional administration co-ordinator Sandra Cromarty, who started working for CCS in 1988 as a typist, said she had seen the organisation change dramatically during her time.
This was especially so with the face-to-face contact she had with clients, which had decreased over the years as clients had become more independent and less reliant on the organisation as a quasi drop-in-centre.
''The shift from institutional care to community care was huge,'' Mrs Cromarty said.
The workforce had also become more highly skilled, Mrs Cromarty said, a trend Miss Smith hoped would continue.
Miss Smith said although the disability care industry tended not to attract highly educated staff, CCS paid its staff above the minimum wage and would like to see more higher-education courses offered to staff in the industry.
CCS Disability Action will celebrate its 80th anniversary on September 15 and is encouraging descendants or relatives of the founding committee to attend the event.
By Elenor Ainge Roy
