From the [Waltham, MA] Daily News Tribune:

More than a hundred people rallied at the Massachusetts State House yesterday to oppose Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan to close four institutions and transfer the residents to community-based services. Among the four is  the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center in Waltham. (Earlier post here.)

The governor says closing the costly institutions will save the state $80 million over the next four years.

David Hart, president of Coalition of Families for the Retarded, said the closures, “will put an incredibly vulnerable population out into the community where they won’t be able to protect themselves.”

Leo Sarkissian, executive director for Arc of Massachusetts, supports closing the institutions and said money isn’t the real issue. He said people with developmental disabilities do better when they are not isolated away from other members of the community.

See also: Waltham residents brainstorm ideas for Fernald Land –[Waltham, MA] Daily News Tribune

Earlier posts here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 10:17 am and is filed under advocacy, budget, community services, institutionalization, intellectual/developmental disabilities, law. 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.  Email This Post