State’s developmental centers to be reviewed in Sacramento by McGuire, others

Closure of SDC and impact on families to be discussed in Sacramento hearing|

State Sen. Mike McGuire, chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, will convene a hearing Tuesday, Feb. 23, in Sacramento, with Sen. Holly Mitchell, Health and Human Services Budget Subcommittee chair, on the budget crisis impacting California’s developmentally disabled community, including residents and families. A key point of discussion is sure to be the impending closure of three of California’s developmental centers.

McGuire, whose district includes the Sonoma Developmental Center, scheduled for closure in 2018, has spent the past year working with state and local officials, families, residents, staff and providers to ensure a safe and seamless transition for the nearly 400 medically fragile residents who call the SDC home.

“This is a defining moment for our state as major changes are made to the system of care for California’s developmentally disabled residents,” McGuire said.

“There is lots going on around SDC,” said Kathleen Miller, president of the Parents Hospital Association. “PHA has committed itself to working hard to retain SDC’s services – and improve community services.

“We are also deeply concerned about the risks presented by the accelerated timing of the governor’s proposed closure plan.”

The purpose of next week’s joint hearing is to discuss the lessons learned from previous closures of developmental centers, to examine the proposal for the closure of California’s three remaining Developmental Centers and to receive an in-depth briefing from the DDS on the closure process.

The Joint Hearing of the Senate Human Services Committee and the Health and Human Services Budget Subcommittee will be held on at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the State Capitol in Room 4203. The public is invited to attend. To watch via livestream, visit senate.ca.gov.

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