Opiniion: NJ Must Re-Evaluate Developmental Center Transfers

Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, represents the 38th District in the state Senate; Peter Barnes III, D-Middlesex, represents the 18th District in the state Senate.

Almost three decades ago the Krautman family of Fair Lawn struggled to find a local community living facility for their daughter Stacie, who has a severe form of Down syndrome. They could not find a New Jersey facility to meet their daughter’s unique needs but, thankfully, they found one in neighboring New York that did.
But after 27 years of living in New York, Stacie and hundreds of others living in out-of-state facilities are being uprooted by the Christie administration and forced to move back to New Jersey. Why? Because the state qualifies for additional federal funding if Stacie and others live here.

NJ Assembly Considers Halting Transfers

Two unexplained deaths, push to return residents from out-of-state centers, disturb families and advocates.

Dawn Apgar

They also want to stop the state from forcing the return of developmentally disabled residents who have been living in out-of-state facilities.Alarmed by reports of two deaths after the state transferred patients out of developmental centers into group homes, legislators are calling for a moratorium on any more transfers pending further investigations.

New Jersey Agency Aims for Full Community Integration

UNION COUNTY, N.J. — Milagros Rivera doesn’t speak words and occasionally makes sounds. She spent most of her life at the state-run Woodbridge Developmental Center.But during the past few years, Rivera has lived at a group home in Roselle and has a job feeding papers into a shredder at Community Access Unlimited’s day program. Rivera takes her task seriously, straightening out some pages before feeding them into the shredder.“She’s very content,” said Bernadette Griswold, Community Access Unlimited (CAU) managing assistant executive director. “She’s an awesome person.
”Having those with developmental disabilities fully integrated into the community is what Community Access Unlimited is striving for, especially with state plans to close two developmental centers; the Woodbridge Developmental Center and the North Jersey Developmental Center in Totowa.

Legislation Planned to Halt Closing of Two New Jersey Developmental Centers

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. — State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-19th District, plans to introduce legislation next week that would reverse the binding aspect of a recommendation made by a task force last summer to close two of the state’s developmental centers, including the one here.

A similar bill is planned in the Assembly, and if approved could lead to a more negotiated discussion about the future of the development centers that house some of the state’s most profoundly developmentally disabled residents.

Court Order State to Release Documents

SACRAMENTO -- A state court Tuesday ordered the California Department of Public Health to disclose uncensored copies of dozens of patient abuse cases at institutions for the developmentally disabled.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Investigative Reporting in Sacramento County Superior Court in January, seeking citations issued to developmental centers in Los Angeles, Orange, Sonoma, Riverside, Tulare and San Jose counties.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/18/4836468/court-orders-state-to-release.html#storylink=cpy

Panel Urges N.J. to Expand Community Services

TRENTON, N.J. -- Trenton should spend all of the mon­ey it saves shutting down state institutions for the disabled in Totowa and Wood­bridge on building up a community-based replacement system of housing and care, according to the state task force that rec­ommended the closures.
But the governor’s office stopped short of making that commitment. In a state­ment Friday, a spokesman for Governor Christie said only that the administration will continue to make “significant invest­ments” in community services for the de­velopmentally disabled.

Editorial: Community Care First

CHICAGO -- Three months ago, Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a budget that made the tough choice to shut down a handful of government-run facilities around the state. He did it for good reason.
The facilities, including prisons and centers for the developmentally disabled, are unneeded and hugely expensive. The services they provide can be done much more efficiently, and their high cost puts a squeeze on funding available for other social services.
Now we're coming down to the final decisions in Springfield on state spending for the next fiscal year. The closing of the facilities are a bargaining chip.

As Virginia Prepares to Close Centers, Agencies Await Flood of Need

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia will close its training centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the next 10 years, putting more than 1,000 individuals into community-based programs that already have lengthy waiting lists for their services.
Residents in state institutions will return to their communities and to a system of group homes and day programs by 2021 as part of an agreement between the state and the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement ends legal action against the state started by department. The agreement will phase out four of five state institutions, which currently house about 1,000 residents total.
The state has agreed to provide funding for more than 4,000 additional people to be treated by community services agencies by 2021. But officials admit that will not cover all of the need. Thousands of people across the state have qualified for care in community programs but are receiving minimal treatment because no state funding is available.

Developmental Center Review is a Necessity

A writer's opinion on the New Jersey task force to review developmental centers and the recent closing of one facility.

VINELAND, N.J. -- State Sen. Jeff Van Drew's bill to create a task force to conduct a thorough review of the state's seven developmental centers and develop a plan for their future is the only way to go before any decisions on closures are made.

Unfortunately, this apparently wasn't done before the proposed closure of the Vineland Developmental Center was included in the governor's budget.

The Christie administration and Department of Human Services should have conducted such a thorough review and considered many factors before making any decision. Then, they would have known the:

• Economic impact on the community of closing a particular center.

• Ability of the surrounding community to provide the necessary services and support to those with developmental disabilities.

• Projected repair and maintenance costs.

• Number of patients within the centers who require 24/7 supervision.

• Number of patients and their families who expressed a desire to remain in a developmental center.

Even after a plan is developed, one or more of the developmental centers statewide could be closed. But then residents and the state will have all the facts to make an informed decision that's the best option to ensure taxpayers save money, economic hardships are shared fairly by North and South Jersey, and all center clients and their families continue to be served well.

N.J. Task Force to Review Centers

VINELAND, N.J. -- Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-1, is backing legislation to create a task force charged with fully reviewing the state's seven develop mental centers.
The task force also would develop a plan for the future of developmental centers in this state, which could include plans for facility closures.
"This will ensure that residents and their families are able to decide the best course of care going forward should a closure occur, and that no one region of the state will be unduly harmed," he said.