A New Era Begins

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The State Mental Health Department last week closed W.D. Partlow Developmental Center in Tuscaloosa, marking the close of the institutional era of services for those with intellectual and emotional disabilities.
For almost 90 years, the name W.D. Partlow has been synonymous with mental health care in Alabama, and often that association was not a good one.
Like most states, Alabama opened an institution to house those with intellectual developmental disabilities whose families were unable or unwilling to keep at home. When Partlow opened in 1923 in Tuscaloosa, it was considered the best way to assist those with disabilities and their families.
But a new era dawned in Alabama last week when the state finished moving the last 16 residents from Partlow into small community-based residences.