Town Says It Will Go to Court to Block Proposed Group Residence

This is so disturbing in some many ways, especially the official suggesting that they place people in a closed hospital. Anyone hear of Olmstead?

BOSTON, N.Y. -- A controversy over a group home in the Town of Boston continues to grow after New York State has given approval for the project to move ahead. The proposed group home, located at Cole and Omphalius Roads, will house four developmentally disabled adults who need 24/7 supervision. The project is being done by Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc. (CSDD).

Residents Question NYS Officials About Who Will Be Living in Group Home

NIMBY reaches an extreme in New York State.

FORT EDWARD, N.Y. -- Residents of Bascom Drive and Hillview Avenue have a better idea about the new residents of a 7 Bascom Ave. group home and also have a way to contact state officials with their concerns.But residents, some of whom have lived in the neighborhood for more than five decades, are still uneasy about how a home for people with developmental disabilities was opened up to clients with both developmental issues and criminal backgrounds.One resident asked for the names of those living in the home and was told that information was protected by privacy laws.

Emotions Run High as Group Home Denied

Seems as if NIMBY is alive and well. Despite the slowing of group home development, the attitudes and fears continue at full speed.

HERRIN, Ill. -- More than 80 people — including about 20 who were standing — packed the Herrin City Council meeting Monday, the topic drawing high emotions.
The council had to decide whether to overrule the city’s zoning appeals board and grant a special use permit to The H Group to use a house it purchased as a group home for four developmentally disabled residents.
Speakers on behalf of the group home included Mayor Vic Ritter, Alderman Elizabeth Issler and even a resident of the subdivision where the home is located. She said she and most of her neighbors would not have signed petitions against the group home if a meeting had been held first so they would have known the facts.
A disabled veteran from Marion asked if he could be refused the right to live in his own subdivision because he suffers from service-related stress. His impassioned speech brought the crowd to its feet in tribute.
But in the end, only Issler and Alderman Robert Craig voted for the special use permit; the other six aldermen voted against allowing the home.

Paying a Price for Mistrust and Misinformation

NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) is unfortunately alive and well. Bravo to Minnesota Disability Law Center for looking into whether there is a violation of federal or state fair housing law.

CENTERVILLE, MINN. -- The tidy foreclosed house on Hunters Trail in Centerville will remain vacant for now. Someday in the not-too-distant future, a family will likely snap it up, welcomed no doubt with cookies and smiles by grateful neighbors. Such a better scenario than the four sexual predators who almost lived there.
Except that sexual predators were never coming.
The villains of this piece were not the four teenagers, none of whom is a sex offender. Instead, they are the same shadowy figures who seem to be showing up with frustrating regularity at most public debates now: Small-mindedness, mistrust and misinformation.
And, as usual, the biggest losers are the most vulnerable. In this case, the four teenaged boys with developmental disabilities who craved, and deserved, a chance to move into adulthood nearer to their families.