But some parents beg Legislature not to close facilities.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, April 17, 2009
More than a decade after Texas last closed any state institutions for people with mental disabilities, lawmakers are weighing proposals that seek to cut the number of the facilities without creating a political firestorm.
But it was clear from testimony Thursday in a standing-room-only hearing before a Senate panel that the Legislature won't be able to downsize or close the institutions known as state schools without passionate opposition from residents' families.
For Denton State School parent Stephen Gersuk, his 29-year-old son's move from a group home to Denton State School meant a change "from watching TV and doing jigsaw puzzles to actually having a community."
For those more medically fragile than his son, "removal from a state school to a group home is state-sponsored, slow-motion Russian roulette," Gersuk told the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.
The debate that played out before both that panel and the House Committee on Human Services comes as Texas' state schools are under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice, which reported in December that the facilities fail to protect residents.
And in March, Corpus Christi police said that employees of the state school there had been caught on video organizing fights among residents.
"It's hard to understand why we wouldn't be more embarrassed, that we'd want to do something," said Linda Parrish of the Texas A&M University Center on Disability and Development.
Parrish spoke favorably of a measure by Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, to create an independent authority to evaluate whether any state schools should close and to make recommendations.
Shapleigh compared his proposal to the process of closing military bases — in both cases, he said, many agree there should be fewer, but no one wants his or her local facility to close.
"What we have is a political stalemate here," he said.
Of the nearly 5,000 Texans who live at state schools, Shapleigh said, perhaps 3,000 might be better served in community settings. Though Senate Bill 1407 doesn't mandate closure, Shapleigh said it's likely his measure would lead to that.
Another proposal before the House and Senate panels does mandate closure of some state schools. The proposal by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs — which does not specify which state schools would close — would also reform the entire system of services for Texans with mental disabilities.
The committees did not vote on the closure measures Thursday. The Senate has already approved a proposal — designated an emergency by Gov. Rick Perry — that would add an independent ombudsman for state schools; the House is considering such legislation.
For advocate Bob Kafka, the closure debate is misguided. His group, Adapt of Texas, seeks to move people from institutions into community programs, which now have long waiting lists.
"The debate has become about the buildings, not the people," Kafka said. "Why are we protecting buildings?"
cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548
Posts
