Time is running out on developmental centers; legislative action needed

Unless Republican Gov. John R. Kasich, a candidate for the GOP nomination for president, and the Republican majority in the General Assembly have a change of heart, the Youngstown Developmental Center and a similar facility in the Dayton area will cease to exist in 20 months. That would be a travesty of social justice.

The residents of the centers are developmentally disabled, many of them extremely so, and require around-the-clock care. They cannot speak for themselves. But if they could, they would plead with Gov. Kasich and Republican leaders in the Ohio House and Senate not to disrupt their lives.

So, it is up to others, including family members, area state legislators and the media, to keep alive the issue of the impending closure.

We have published several editorials urging state government to take a step back and re-evaluate the decision. We have also urged the decision-makers to hear the pleas of the relatives of residents and to listen to the arguments proffered by state lawmakers and political and community leaders from the Mahoning Valley.

Hope springs eternal

Unfortunately, those appeals have fallen on deaf ears in Columbus. But hope springs eternal when it comes to protecting the interests of society’s most vulnerable. Thus, we join state Sens. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, and Capri Cafaro of Liberty Township, D-32nd, in urging action on a Senate bill that would create a committee of 13 to evaluate proposed closings of state institutions, such as YDC, and to issue binding rulings.

Schiavoni, the minority leader in the Senate, and Cafaro are the primary sponsors of Senate Bill 62.

Unfortunately, Democrats don’t have the political muscle in the General Assembly to push through such legislation. It is entirely up to the Republicans, and the chairman of the Senate Committee of Government Oversight and Reform, Bill Coley of Butler County, isn’t inclined to bring the bill up for a hearing.

Coley told Vindicator reporter Robert Connelly, whose story on the developmental centers appeared on the front page of Saturday’s paper, that there isn’t a great deal of support among committee members for SB 62.

The chairman said he would reconsider if he started hearing from his colleagues, but he noted, “... when I talk to them, I guess there isn’t energy to get this done.”

Coley needs to distinguish between Republicans and Democrats on this issue because Schiavoni and Cafaro certainly aren’t taking a lackadaisical attitude when it comes to battling on behalf of the developmentally disabled residents of the centers.

It should be pointed out that we would not be having this discussion had Gov. Kasich not vetoed a provision in the $71 billion biennium budget that called for the establishment of the commission to study the state’s developmental centers. The panel would have included residents’ families and caregivers.

Objective study

We are well aware that creation of the commission would not have guaranteed a reprieve for the Youngstown Developmental Center, but an objective study would have certainly made a decision to close it easier to swallow.

But with the clock ticking toward the drop dead date of June 30, 2017, family members of the residents are already exploring options available. The three most viable are: a move into a home operated by a private entity in a community-based setting; a move to another developmental center, such as the one in Tiffin; or, a move back home with family to receive in-home care.

But given the condition of many of the residents, the ideal setting is the one where there is care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

That’s why the Youngstown Developmental Center is so crucial. Family members not only rave about the staff putting the well-being of those in their care above all else, but they also note that the location of the YDC makes visiting convenient.

Sens. Schiavoni and Cafaro aren’t giving up without a fight, but they could use the public’s support. A letter-writing campaign to the governor and legislative leadership in support of the YDC is urgently needed.