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| Kathleen Miller and her son Dan, who is a resident at Sonoma Developmental Center, take a walk on the SDC campus. (photo credit: Press Democrat) |
by Kathleen Miller
Last week, I participated in the long-standing tradition of Halloween at Sonoma Developmental Center and the grand Halloween parade.
It is a fun day of events, and it gives me the opportunity to see old friends who still work at the center. The residents love it and also enjoy the afternoon carnival of fun and activities as well.
Following the parade, I took my son out to lunch. While at one of the local restaurants, I ran into a former SDC employee who now works for a community day program provider. Her clients were eating there also, and we enjoyed a brief minute to chat. I reminded her that it was parade day at Sonoma Developmental Center. She had always been an enthusiastic participant during her years working at the center, and we both agreed what fun it would be if her community clients could join with SDC residents and participate in the parade.
She shook her head and shared that it was frowned upon for those in her program to in any way participate at SDC events. I didn’t have to ask why. It is an old battle that continues today.
As long as I have been aware of developmental centers and community services outside of the centers, I have also been aware of the friction between them. Care providers tell their clients horror stories about what life is like inside developmental centers. They bring them to legislative hearings to urge for closure even if these same clients have never set foot inside of a developmental center.
I personally have been called names and subjected to unflattering comments for my support of developmental centers. However, also true is the fact that those of us who rely on the services inside the developmental centers are quick to seize upon, and repeat, negative stories of the abuse and poor care that happens in community settings. It is an acrimonious relationship that has lasted for decades. Sadly this acrimony continues today.
The Parent Hospital Association, an organization that represents the residents, families and friends of Sonoma Developmental Center, tried to push legislation that would have allowed residents living in alternative community settings to come to the health and dental clinics at the center. This was important because many of those services, services that SDC residents take for granted, are not always available to those living in community care. The legislation went nowhere. Some providers of community care saw it as either a threat to them or as an attempt to shore up Sonoma Developmental Center.
Both sides have some basis for their concerns. Individuals with developmental disabilities are too often subjected to abuse and neglect. Bad things have happened in developmental centers. Bad things have happened in community care. However, most folks who go into working with these challenging populations do so for the right reasons and try to provide those they work with good care. More important, this battle between developmental centers staff, families and friends and community providers serves no one. The clients are the losers. The system remains entrenched in old battles instead of both sides working together to provide a seamless system of care that meets the needs of all regional center clients.
Currently, there is a process underway to “transform” the Sonoma Developmental Center and the remaining developmental centers. To be clear, I do not welcome the change. Most families of center residents simply want to be left alone, but since that does not appear likely, I have turned my attention to community care and the gaps in that system.
Today, we need to work with all parties to create a seamless system that serves all of the developmentally disabled populations, including those that regional centers struggle with. We need to find ways to use the Sonoma Developmental Center infrastructure to create something special, a system that can fill the gaps in care that exist in today’s system. We need a system that cannot only help the center’s residents but those in community setting where services are not working.
The old voices are back. They want closure. They want nothing to do with those of us with ties to developmental centers. However, more and more I am hearing new voices. They are asking why not and what the new services at the Sonoma Developmental Center can include.
These new voices either know nothing about the old battle lines or want to rise above them. It is my hope that together we will be those who decide the future of Sonoma Developmental Center and of the system of care going into the future.
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