VOR Slams Justice Department Plan to Close Virginia Centers for Disabled
In the last speech he ever made, Hubert Humphrey said, "...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”
The Department of Justice’s announcement January 26 of a settlement agreement with Virginia to close state training centers for profoundly disabled individuals ignores Humphrey’s compassion and elicits an alarming—and likely dangerous—prospect for Virginia’s most fragile citizens.
On behalf of our constituency and their families in Virginia and nationally, VOR calls on President Obama and Congress to stand up for these affected citizens, help them reclaim true choice, protect them from predictable tragedies, and reverse this dangerous decision by the Justice Department in Virginia.
VOR also urges the President and Congress to halt all future federal lawsuits to close specialized centers until investigations of reported tragedies can be conducted. Reports of people with profound disabilities experiencing harm and even death after being displaced from specialized care settings are frighteningly predictable. In Georgia – a situation just like Virginia – displaced residents died just one year into the implementation of a similar Justice Department s settlement.
It’s easy to argue for “mainstreaming” people who can’t vote or even complain. But those affected by this agreement and actions like it around the country have profound intellectual disabilities and related, complex conditions. They require intensive, 24/7 specialized care – care that usually cannot be provided in small group homes or living with aging parents.
In just this past November, it was revealed that 1,200 people have died for “unnatural or unknown” reasons in New York group homes. Similar widespread tragedies have been reported in Washington, D.C., California, and many other states across the country. How many more people will be harmed before the Justice Department is stopped? Under the current Justice Department regime, it is justice denied, not justice served. The President and Congress must act. Changes are needed federal policy to guarantee residential choice for individuals with profound disabilities.
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