San Bernadino Center Still Closed

The social service center in Southern California where a husband and wife killed 14 people will not reopen until next year, raising concerns that some of the 30,000 people with developmental disabilities it serves might not receive needed treatment.
The Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino had hoped to reopen next week, but spokeswoman Leeza Hoyt said Tuesday that it was pushed back to sometime after Jan. 1.
Because many of the center's 600 employees work in the field, officials hope services won't be disrupted for too many people, Hoyt said. But she could not say for sure that no one would go without care.

Tenn. Health Cuts Close Treatment Program

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Thousands of developmentally disabled Tennesseans must fend for themselves starting Aug. 12, when a local treatment center will stop admitting patients after losing a crucial state grant that funded clinical care for decades.

Chattanooga's TEAM Centers Inc. office has notified 22 employees -- including three clinical psychologists, two social workers and a developmental pediatrician -- they will be laid off effective Aug. 15, according to two people close to the situation.

The shutdown is a byproduct of state lawmakers' budget cuts, which will leave those who suffer from mental disabilities, autism and cerebral palsy without a formerly reliable option, a TEAM executive said.

Alternative Treatment for Children with Autism

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Michael Giordano laid on the bed, put on headphones and pulled the covers over his shoulders. He looked into a colored light directly overhead and listened to sounds as the bed gently began to move.
The 15-year-old Tottenville resident has pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, which is along the autism spectrum. Through the years, his family has tried different treatments -- some which helped, other that didn't -- to aid his learning disabilities, limited language, eye contact and concentration.
Last summer, Gina Giordano decided to enroll her son in the Sensory Learning Program after Sensory Solutions opened in Grasmere. The alternative treatment integrates the vestibular (balance), visual (sight) and auditory (hearing) sensory systems to help those along the autism spectrum and others with sensory challenges function in everyday tasks.

California Group Claims Autism Treatment Is Denied Illegally

California regulators are violating mental health and other laws by allowing health insurers to deny effective treatment for children with autism, consumer advocates contend.
In a lawsuit, Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group that monitors insurance practices, is asking a judge to order the Department of Managed Health Care to require insurers to provide autistic members with the services their physicians have ordered.
The battle over autism treatment is at least a decade old. In 1999, in response to widespread outrage over insurers' refusal to cover such needs, the state Legislature adopted the Mental Health Parity Act.
The law requires insurers to cover care for mental and behavioral problems at the same level as they do for physical illnesses.