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Valley legislators continue fight to save YDC from closure
By ROBERT CONNELLY
austintown
There are several options for Youngstown Developmental Center residents as the care center’s closing date approaches.
But there is no option to stay past June 30, 2017.
Bill Whitacre, superintendent of the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said in the coming months families will make one of three decisions for where their loved ones will live.
Before the YDC closure announcement was made, there were 82 residents; now there are 59. Whitacre said that includes 12 people who were moved into a six-person male home and a six-person female home in a community-based setting operated by a private entity.
State legislators, meanwhile, continue to pursue legislation that would provide a 13-member commission to review closures of state-run facilities.
“I’ve not heard anything lately about trying to reinstate that commission,” Whitacre said.
The Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities and Mahoning County board likely will serve the majority of individuals who move out of the Youngstown Developmental Center, Whitacre said. “So we kind of all got together and brainstormed how we would support those individuals moving out.”
LEGISLATION
Ohio Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, said Senate Bill 62 is still alive and has been assigned to the Senate Committee of Government Oversight and Reform. That committee is chaired by state Sen. Bill Coley of Liberty Township in Butler County, R-4th.
SB 62 primarily was sponsored by Schiavoni and state Sen. Capri Cafaro of Liberty, D-32nd. That bill would create a committee of 13 to evaluate and make binding rulings concerning proposed closings of state institutions. That would include the planned closures of YDC and the Montgomery County Developmental Center in the Dayton area.
The bill had its only hearing March 18, and Schiavoni spoke. The bill was then put into the state budget, after being passed by the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, but Republican Gov. John Kasich line-item vetoed the closure commission bill in the summer.
Schiavoni then unsuccessfully lobbied for Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, to overturn Kasich’s veto in the summer.
This stalemate means that the YDC and the Montgomery Developmental Center are still set to close by June 30, 2017.
“There just wasn’t a lot of support for the bill on the committee,” Coley said. “Unless I start hearing from committee members that this is worthy of passage – and [then] we’ll start working on it. But when I talk to them, I guess there isn’t much energy to get this done.”
BILL SUPPORT
With Schiavoni and Cafaro, state Sen. Kenny Yuko of Richmond Heights, D-25th, a member of the Government Oversight and Reform committee, was a co-sponsor of SB 62. In fact, two other Democrats on that oversight committee also were co-sponsors: Sen. Michael J. Skindell of Lakewood, D-23rd, and Sen. Edna Brown of Toledo, D-11th.
In an emailed statement, Yuko said: “While unfortunately [the commission closure] provision was line-item vetoed by the Governor, the need for change in the closure process of state institutions has not gone away. It would be a shame if the families affected by the closings of the Youngstown and Montgomery Developmental Centers are not given the opportunity to share their stories and convince committee members to vote for the legislation. They deserve a hearing and the chairman should give them one.”
But Coley said the first hearing on SB 62 was called for by Schiavoni, and Yuko and he will re-poll the oversight committee on if another hearing is warranted. He also said it is his discretion if hearings take place since he is committee chairman.
Another co-sponsor was state Sen. Peggy Lehner of Kettering, R-6th, who represents part of Montgomery County, where the other developmental center is slated for closure. She could not be reached.
But state Sen. Bill Beagle of Tipp City, R-5th, who also represents part of Montgomery County, said in an emailed statement: “I will continue to advocate for the closure commission but in the meantime I also encourage families of residents in the Montgomery County and Youngstown developmental centers to work with the Department of Developmental Disabilities to make arrangements for their loved ones.”
NO OPPORTUNITY
“Some [YDC residents] can’t be relocated to these community homes,” Schiavoni said. “We have to really consider the family’s choice and if we’re going to take care of the most-vulnerable residents.”
He disputed Coley’s claim that there was a lack of support for the bill, noting it passed both the Ohio House and Senate before Kasich’s line-item veto.
“He should at least give some opportunity for testimony,” Schiavoni said. Having no hearings is “not the way this body is supposed to operate.”
Cafaro was adamant that no one had forgotten this issue. She said the reason a second hearing hasn’t happened in the Senate committee was due to summer recess and the focus on the biennial budget in the spring.
“I worked tirelessly with family members and staff, speaking to them one-on-one, and these are folks that are beside themselves,” she said. “It seems there is will and interest by the members of the General Assembly to support this language because, frankly, they have already done it.”
WHERE TO LIVE
Whitacre said there are options for YDC residents:
Live at another state-run developmental center, such as in Tiffin or Warrensville.
Move out of the YDC and into a privately run community home or intermediate-care facility.
Move back home with their family with in-home care.
Whitacre explained that if a YDC resident moves to Tiffin or Warrensville, the resident’s family would have a longer drive to see loved ones. Moving back home also could be problematic. “A lot of times, individuals that live at YDC may be there because their parents are elderly and they’re elder caregivers,” he noted.
The community homes and intermediate-care facilities are privately run. There are 11 privately run organizations in Mahoning County that offer those homes or facilities and at least 15 that offer transportation services besides the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
“Most of the individuals in the YDC probably have a court-appointed guardian – which is typically going to be a family member or an individual the court entrusts to make decisions for that person. They will ultimately decide of all of those options where those people will live,” Whitacre said.
Cafaro said YDC residents are “individuals that need 24/7 care, 24/7 access to medical services as well as equipment that’s not necessarily available in these community-based settings. I have significant concern for these individuals if they would be served in these settings.”