Kenwood Press Reports on First Task Force Meeting

The first meeting of the task force, formally known as the “Future of the State Developmental Centers Task Force,” was held on June 17, in Sacramento. The nineteen task force appointees, who have various connections to the care of the developmentally disabled, have been tasked with addressing the future of California's developmental centers as a component of that care.

Parent Hospital Association president Kathleen Miller is a member of the task force and attended the June 17th meeting.

The Kenwood Press has published a report on that first task force meeting. From Task Force deciding fate of developmental centers, by Jay Gamel, in The Kenwood Press, (07/01/2013):

California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Secretary Diana Dooley announced the formation of a task force on the future of developmental centers – including Sonoma Developmental Center – in May. The task force is charged with producing a “written master plan that addresses (1) the effective and efficient delivery of integrated services to meet the specialty needs of developmental center residents; and (2) the fiscal implications of developmental center operations, including the cost of resident care and services, maintenance of aging infrastructure, and utilization of existing resources.”

Just how this large group will accomplish all this by Nov. 14, still isn’t clear, according to some task force members.

“The concern I expressed to Secretary Dooley is what can we accomplish in four meetings," Kathleen Miller said. "There are people on both sides of the fence who won’t necessarily agree. I don’t feel like that question has been answered.” Miller, whose son has been an SDC resident for many years, is president of the Parent Hospital Association and is a strong advocate for keeping at least some parts of the developmental center functioning to serve the most severely disabled residents.

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The article includes comments from other task force members.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TASK FORCE

Anyone with questions or concerns should contact Jim Suennen, Associate Secretary at California Health and Human Services Agency, at (916) 651-8056 or email jsuennen@chhs.ca.gov.

For updated information, including meeting agendas, about the Task Force, see the California Health and Human Services Agency page at: www.chhs.ca.gov/Pages/DCsTaskForce.aspx