From the Press of Atlantic City, Vineland [NJ] Daily Journal, NJ.com:

The chairman of the Assembly budget committee in New Jersey is proposing legislation that would close five of the state’s seven institution for people with developmental disabilities.

Louis Greenwald, D-Camden, said he wanted to move most of the 2,400 residents to community housing, which he said would cost about half as much per person. Each resident’s state housing costs $641 daily and $223,000 per year, Greenwald said.

“The time has come for us to end this warehousing of human life and to give the consumers and the patients what they require, what they have asked for, what their families have dreamed of, which is the opportunity to live independently and in a way and in a means with the dignity and respect that they deserve,” said Greenwald.

The proposal brought quick opposition from state Sen. Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat who represents a district containing two of the seven institutions. One of the two, in Vineland, has 447 residents and employs 1,796 workers.

Van Drew said he was concerned that closing the facilities would cause worker layoffs.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under housing, intellectual/developmental disabilities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.