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« Johnston police call in sick this morning | Today | E. Greenwich in marathon school mediation session » August 29, 2007Lincoln group home won't close while appeal ongoingFamilies of several adults with severe retardation won a reprieve today. The families are fighting an effort to close their Lincoln group home. The two sides in the matter emerged from a meeting in Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel's chambers with an agreement that the home will remain open while the families and their lawyer have a grievance heard by the state Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals. Today's developments do not yet guarantee the Lincoln home will stay open, but the lawyer for the families cast it as a win. The adults have lived together for 25 years in the same group home in Lincoln and don't want to be moved to another home in Smithfield. The judge's message was there is an appeal process, go through it and see what the process produces before closing the home. Saying it is for budget reasons, the state has again opted to close the Southwick Drive home and transfer the four, who are in their late 40s and early 50s, to the Smithfield home. In 1995, the state Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals first closed the adults' Southwick Drive home in Lincoln, and moved the group to a home in Smithfield to save $100,000. William L. Brennan, the father of resident Patrick Brennan, filed suit on behalf of the four adults, asserting it was a traumatic move that negatively impacted their development. Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Hurst ordered the home reopened. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer John Hill and Journal archival reports Posted by Mike McKinney CommentsPaula Sotnik-Weiss | August 29, 2007 7:11 PM link Maybe we should move the Governor out of his home and into a less expensive setting without allowing him to have a say in where he lives! The State should be opening new homes instead of closing them. There are hundreds of people who are in crisis and there is no where for them to live. What is wrong with a system that puts money before the dignity of people? Did Administration ever think of getting rid of the high priced consultants to save money instead of displacing human beings??? Linda | August 30, 2007 7:11 AM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
Haven't we progressed from the years of institutionalization when people with disabilities had no choice and were forced to live with large numbers of other people? Other than large families, what other normalized residential setting houses 7 unrelated adults, 3 of whom are strangers and have not made the decision regarding their housemates, excluding dorms for college students? And, these are adults who should be afforded residential permanency. Surely there must be other ways to cut the state fat and save money other than treating people like cattle! Kudos to Judge Hurst for reopening their Lincoln home.