Editorial: Texas must act swiftly on institutions
December 10th, 2008Editors of the Dallas Morning News say it would be a “terrible idea” for Texas to close any of its 13 “state schools” for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They say there is “no guarantee that these people would receive better care in smaller group homes of 15 or so people.”
Still, they say, change in the institutions is needed. They call for:
- Better protocols for restraining patients, particularly doing away with straitjackets;
- Better training for staffers at the institutions;
- Better hiring, oversight and leadership by superintendents; and
- More active engagement by the parents of the nearly 4,600 Texans who live in the institutions.
The state –- and especially the workers and families with a stake in this system –- face an or-else moment. Either Texas does things right, or the feds step in. We’re too good a state to let that happen again.
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December 24th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Cut all funding for institutions and move the money to community-based waivers — community support, home support, work support, etc.! People with disabilities need to be included in the community! It’s time to stop locking and segregating people with developmental disabilities in institutions. They are dirty, unhealthy, abusive environments. They are too expensive and they must close ASAP. Living in the community is much cheaper and healthier.