Sunday, January 31, 2010

California Department of Developmental Services Announces Plans to Close Lanterman Developmental Center

The California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) has announced its intention to close the Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, California. The announcement was made on Friday, January 29, 2010. DDS plans to submit a detailed closure plan to the state legislature by April 1, 2010. Legislature approval is required before beginning closure procedures.

The Lanterman Developmental Center, located on 302 acres of state-owned land in Los Angeles County, is an 82-year-old facility that provides 24-hour residential care for individuals with developmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, down syndrome, autism and other lifelong conditions. Lanterman at one time served more than 3,000 residents. Today there are fewer than 400 people living at the facility, with the population declining 10 percent or more each year. Given the declining population and aging infrastructure, DDS determined that it is no longer economical to operate the facility.

In a press release announcing the planned closure, the DDS stated it will utilize a transition process that places each resident in a living environment appropriate for his or her needs. According to DDS this process is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision.

“The decision to recommend closure was not made lightly, as it will impact the residents served, their families, and the staff, all of whom have worked hard to make Lanterman Developmental Center a caring and positive place to live,” said Terri Delgadillo, Director of the Department of Developmental Services, in the press release announcing the planned closure. “The well-being of all who live and work at Lanterman will be of our utmost concern and priority as we move forward.”

DDS went on to state that it will work closely with the local regional centers in defining and developing resources that will support the needs of residents who are identified through the individualized planning process as appropriate for transition to the community and will work with labor unions to assist employees in finding opportunities for future employment.

According to Friday's announcement, in identifying Lanterman for closure, DDS sets in motion a process defined in statute (Welfare and Institutions Code section 4474.1) for closing developmental centers that will include extensive community outreach and at least one public hearing. All interested parties, including residents, their family members, employees, regional centers, advocates, service providers, public officials, representatives from the communities surrounding Lanterman, and others are encouraged to participate.

A detailed closure plan is expected to be submitted to the Legislature by April 1, 2010 (just two months from now). Legislative approval must be received prior to beginning closure activities, which are projected for fiscal year 2010-2011. 

For more information about the planned closure and details on upcoming meetings and hearing, contact Nancy Lungren, Assistant Director of Communications at DDS at 916-654-1820 or nancy.lungren@dds.ca.gov.

Visit www.dds.ca.gov for information about programs and services.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Parent Hospital Association is Now on Twitter and Facebook

To make it easier to share information and keep in touch with our community, the Parent Hospital Association has waded into the social networking stream on Twitter and Facebook.

PHA is on twitter
You can find Twitter updates in the margin of this blog - or follow us in real time directly on Twitter. There is a lot going on there (besides PHA updates) that you might find interesting.


Or become a fan of the Parent Hospital Association on Facebook where we expect to post regular updates. You can share photos and news and join in discussions with other people in the PHA community.

If you're not yet on Facebook, it's simple to sign up. Just click our link and follow the simple steps to create your own account. You must be 13 years of age or older and have an email address. (Remember to visit your settings page to set your privacy levels.) Then become a fan of Parent Hospital Association by clicking on the 'Become a Fan' box on our page.
See you online?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., takes a personal look at autism and teaches us all something about ourselves.

Dr. Grandin may be the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. The author of several books, she has been featured on NPR (A Conversation with Temple Grandin), on a number of major television programs, and in numerous publications. On Saturday, February 6, HBO premieres "Temple Grandin: Autism Gave her a Vision, She Gave it a Voice."

According to her website, “Dr. Grandin didn't talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping and humming. In 1950 [at the age of three], she was labeled ‘autistic,’ and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. She tells her story of ‘groping her way from the far side of darkness’ in her book Emergence: Labeled Autistic, a book which stunned the world because, until its publication, most professionals and parents assumed being diagnosed ‘autistic’ was virtually a death sentence to achievement or productivity in life.”
When I was much younger, I assumed that everybody perceived the world the same way I did, that everybody thought in pictures.
Grandin’s parents chose not to follow the advice to have her institutionalized and instead sent her to private schools. Ultimately she graduated from Franklin Pierce College with a B.A. in psychology and later received both a masters and doctorate degree in animal science. Grandin now works as a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and speaks around the world on both autism and cattle handling.

Grandin's biggest impact has probably come through her work with animals. She believes her autism allows her to empathize with animals, and she has used that special sensibility to design humane procedures and facilities for slaughterhouses. Today, plants audited and designed to her standards handle half of the cattle in the United States. You can read a fascinating account of her work and insight on animal perception and intelligence in What Do Animals Think?, by Verlyn Klinkenborg, in the May 2005 issue of Discover.

Grandin's current bestseller is The Way I See It. On January 26, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism will be released in paperback to coincide with the premiere of "Temple Grandin: Autism Gave her a Vision, She Gave it a Voice", which airs Saturday, February 6th on HBO.

For other books by Temple Grandin, including The Way I See It and Animals in Translation, visit  www.templegrandin.com

Friday, January 8, 2010

SF Chronicle series on care of the developmentally disabled archived

In March of 1998, San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Edward W. Lempinen and Reynolds Holding won the prestigious Unity Award in Media for a yearlong investigation of life-threatening breakdowns in California's care of the developmentally disabled.

The series by Lempinen and Holding also received the Northern California Society of Professional Journalism award for enterprise reporting.

To help make the information that appeared in the Chronicle more accessible, we have collected together links to the dozens of stories that ran during 1997 and 1998 at www.delicious.com/parenthospitalassociation/SFChron_coverage

We plan to continue to add to our collection of links on delicious. If you come across more coverage that could be included – or related information that you think would be of interest, please contact us.
You can email us at info (at) parenthospitalassociation (dot) org.
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