Massachusetts families of people at state institution ask governor to keep it open

From Wicked Local:

SHREWSBURY, Mass. - Relatives of Glavin Center residents were anxious to ask Gov. Deval Patrick (pictured) to keep the center open during the governor’s town hall tour stop at Shrewsbury High School July 8.

In December, the Department of Mental Retardation announced that within four years the state will close the local facility for people with developmental disabilities, which houses about 50 residents, as well as the Fernald Center in Waltham, the Monson Center in Palmer and the Templeton Center in Baldwinville.

The residents will be transferred into community settings or to one of the two remaining state institutions in Wrentham or Hawthorne.

Of the more than 100 people in attendance at Patrick's fifth stop on his 15-town tour throughout the state this summer, many wore “Save Glavin” T-shirts.

Martha Douty-Perez told Patrick her 31-year-old sister, who is blind and suffers from mental retardation and autism, lives at the Glavin Center and is very comfortable.

``Being at the Glavin Center is the best thing for her,'' said Douty-Perez, a Framingham resident. ``We wouldn't want to see her go anywhere else.''

Douty-Perez said moving the residents of the facility away from the center and the region will not be beneficial.

``Keeping something like this open in central Massachusetts is vital,'' she said.

While cautioning that the move to shut down the facilities is not about cost, Patrick said closing the centers will put residents in more comfortable settings and free up resources to better serve the Department of Mental Retardation's other 33,000 clients who receive community-based services.

"For some, an institutional setting is better,'' said Patrick. ``For many, a home or community based setting is a better setting. This is not mainly driven by cost.''

Patrick also stressed those leaving the facilities will be cared for.

"Nobody is talking about shutting it down and pushing people out on the curbs,'' he said.

The governor agreed to tour the facility in the future to get a first-hand look and to study the services the Glavin Center offers.

During his only scheduled stop in central Massachusetts on his summer meeting tour, Patrick also addressed questions about the budget and the state's growing industries.

The state is currently facing a $9 billion budget gap between last year's and this year's budget and even if every state employee was laid off, Massachusetts would still be experiencing a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall, Patrick said.

"We're dealing with the most profound economic situation since the depression,'' he said.

Patrick said the state is investing in biotechnology and clean energy in hopes of creating jobs. In May, close to 5,000 jobs were created in the state, the first time the Commonwealth has seen an increase in jobs during the past year. Patrick noted that creating jobs is one of his top priorities.

"We need to get people back to work,'' he said.