In 2012, the state of Virginia was found guilty of violating federal law by needlessly using restraints and warehousing developmentally and/or intellectually disabled people in institutions.
To make reparations, Virginia entered into a 10-year, $2 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and began closing four of Virginia’s five training centers.
Those centers provided housing for the more than 1000 developmentally and/or intellectually disabled people, but the Department of Justice found that supporting people to live in non-institutional settings provides an enhanced quality of life at a lower cost than institutionalization.
In addition, the average cost to institutionalize an individual some with disabilities requiring 24-hour care is approximately $194,000 per year compared to $74,000 per year to provide individual residence in a community setting (such as sponsored or group homes).
The agreement required that services would be provided, not in training centers, but in the community.
The Southwest Virginia Training Center, which closed in June, was the third facility to close. The fourth facility, the Central Virginia Training Center located in Lynchburg, is scheduled to close in 2020.
Only 75 beds will remain at Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake.
Following the closure of the Southwest Virginia Training Center, DePaul Community Resources launched a campaign its calling “Embracing Everyday Life,” in order to find “safe and loving” homes for these Virginians in the community.
The campaign seeks to identify “sponsored home providers” the DePaul announcement said, “safe and loving home providers who are trained and approved to deliver support to individuals based on their specific needs, including 24-hour supervision, personal care, physical assistance, and life skills development.”
DePaul “carefully matches youth and adults with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities with DePaul certified homes, ensuring better outcomes and compassionate care in a home-based setting,” it said.
Sponsored residential providers offer person-centered care that engages children and adults with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities as part of a family, rather than within the walls of an institution.
The process of becoming a sponsored residential provider is thorough and ensures that everyone involved can live their best lives: the children and adults who are being served as well as prospective caregivers.
“The closure of training centers across the Commonwealth of Virginia has multiple impacts on the community, and more importantly on the individuals being placed in the community,” Director of Residential Services at DePaul, Amber Wieringo, said. “At the Virginia training centers, care was inclusive and provided onsite [care] ranging from dentistry and psychiatry to activities of daily living. Meaning that rarely did these individuals go into the community and rarely did the community interact with these individuals.”
Now, in light of the Department of Justice findings and its settlement, all individuals previously institutionalized in one of the four training centers must now live in the community and have an integrated life.
“It’s important that the community is ready and willing to accept this population and ensure that people are living the most meaningful and integrated life possible,” Wieringo said.
To learn more about DePaul Community Resources or to inquire about its Sponsored Residential services, visit www.depaulcr.org.
