On the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center
(Kathleen Miller, president of the Parent Hospital Association, delivered this message to a Legislative Forum at the center on March 14). There is some good news for those of us who rely on the care our loved ones receive here at Sonoma Developmental Center. There is currently no word of any plan to close SDC and in fact as vacancies occur new staff is still being hired. Community trips for residents are encouraged and are taking place allowing the residents to experience involvement with the local community. The quality of services our family and friends who live here at the center receive continues to be top notch.
However none of us can be blind to the changes that are taking place. Regional centers are working to develop many community settings for SDC residents at increased rates as funding is being made available to them to do just that. Even more concerning is the recent recommendations to the budget process to close both SDC and Fairveiw developmental centers.The population here is declining and a policy that prevents any admissions continues. As the population declines, the cost of care for those who remain increases. The feds continue their relentless pursuit of their one size fits all thinking as they search for any reason to justify cutting off federal funding to parts of SDC. It is not difficult to see that changes are coming. They are not changes we have asked for or sought but they are coming just the same. The only question that remains is how long we have to plan for them and prepare.
Many of us have been involved as advocates for our family members for decades. We are familiar with the reassurances that there is no reason for us to worry. Regional center staff give us rainbow stories of how well folks do in community settings and sometimes they are right. But we remain concerned about the life our friends and family will have outside this center. We also hear stories of neglect, gaps in care and even abuse in community settings leading to harm and even death.We know that there is no real data on what happens to former developmental center residents once they leave the developmental centers. We do not know how many die, or how many make repeated trips to acute psychiatric centers only to be over medicated and sent back to the community settings that can not handle them. We do not know how many are restrained or how they are restrained. When stories leak out about problems they are always presented as isolated incidents. Two former SDC residents died in community settings this last year that I do know of. Their deaths were preventable, directly linked to staff errors. We do not know how many more there were.
In the face of certain change what can we do to protect those we love? Some of you will be facing increased pressure to place your family and loved ones in community settings. Be strong and let everyone know that you value the care your loved ones receive at SDC. Don’t just ask about the board and care settings regional centers are suggesting but ask about the day program, the medical care and dental services. Then do your home work and follow up with visits and phone calls. And know this-once SDC residents leave SDC they do not return. Two or three years down the road when they get in trouble because of medical or behavioral issues make certain that has been addressed as well. And I should not have to tell you to get it all in writing.
We also must stop the battle that still continues between those in developmental centers and those in community settings. The truth is our loved ones may all be forced into community care and many of our friends and former SDC residents are already there. Those in the community are our brothers and sisters and we must remember that even when they do not. So we need to join them in their efforts to improve community services and fill in the gaps in care. We need to advocate for our state staff to work in those settings, and for better training and pay for line of care staff, and for the wrap around medical and dental services that were the promise of the recent DC Task Force. Above all we need to demand greater accountability and transparency in community settings.
We also need to fully embrace our partnership of the Sonoma Coalition and the support of the Sonoma community. Remember the coalition seeks two goals. First, protect the land and resources here for current and future generations to enjoy. Do not make it yet another high end tourist destination but a destination for all of us who value nature. Second, and no less urgent, is to make it a site where a safety net of services exist for society’s most vulnerable citizens-those who call it home today. Too often individuals with developmental disabilities come at the end of the line and join the mentally ill as one of the most underserved populations. After them –at the very end of end are those individuals with both mental illness and developmental delays. This time it must be different. We must unite behind the goal of providing that safety net for those who need it most.
The truth is that there are those-like those in the legislative analyst office and some in Sacramento who see SDC only as an aging facility that costs too much. We of the Sonoma coalition have a broader and longer vision. While they look at the land and seethe money that comes from building yet another high end tourist destination, we see a chance to protect the open space and resources for both current and future generations. While they see the SDC staff as expensive and no longer needed, we see them as a repository of committed and talented individuals with unique knowledge and expertise. While they see community settings as a cheaper alternative, we see the chance to fill some of the gaps in the DDS system and help the fragile clients who continually fall through the gaps. While they see the residents of SDC as a liability andproviders see a chance to fillabed and line their pockets, we see them as human beings, neighbors, friends, brother, and sisters, sons and daughters. While they look at SDC and see a problem, we look at SDC at SDC and see possibility.
Fortunately we have legislators who are new and eager to do the right thing. We have new DDS administration that we believe and hope are open to doing things in new and better ways. But to those in Sacramento who do not believe in the possibility of our twin causes for the future of SDC we say open your hearts and minds. We are determined, we have a dream, and we are just getting started.
2 thoughts on “On the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center”
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My father worked for the Center, for over 30 years. I recently applied for a position as a Electrician 1. They require a applicant pass a test for Civil Availability. Unfortunately they and the State Human Resources Deptartment admit that, the Center isn’t allowed to access to anyone who actually takes the test because the, Center is suppose to give the test themselves.
When it was explained to the Centers On Site Human Resources Department, they knew, that also, but said it was only a Technical Issue.
When asked if a Electrician 2 Test could be iused they said no, when explained that the Test isn’t administered, I asked if Electrician 2′ could be used instead of Electrician 1, they said “no”. Although I had already taken the Electrician 2 Examination, and received a 95% overall grade. They still said it was insufficient.
The many Buildings Serviced by the Plant Operations Officer’ have been around and wired by the same Tradesmen and Women I call brothern, though, it seems that an Imaginary Electrician will be needed to continue the Legacy there.
The truth is that many of the positions may not be filled and the cost will increase, hiring outside Tradesmen and women to continue any operation.
Hello, I have worked in day services and group homes I can say there are some good and positive aspects to them. But, as far as group homes you get a high turn over rate and staff dispense meds and feeding those with special needs are things they have learned through training. In day service people are being fed by staff that a nurse once did. I believe there is risk of harming said individuals. Staff at SDC take great care of those with higher needs such as with high risk behavioral issues. there are many people that live independently who once lived at SDC and I believe it was from the days when parents were told to put their children in such places when really they should have never been placed there. I think I am chopping up what I’m trying to say. But to say there are positives and negatives.