Relocating disabled won’t save

The governor’s budget closes Frances Haddon Morgan Center and Rainier School, state-operated homes for developmentally disabled people located on the West Side of the state. Sixty-one people, during 2003-05, were moved from another residential habilitation center (RHC), Fircrest, to community settings. This cost $10 million. Successful lawsuits enabled some to return to Fircrest.

A feasibility study, which cost $500,000, claims it will cost $1.8 million to begin closing the RHCs. This study underestimates how much it will cost to close the facilities. If it cost $10 million to move 61 people, how much more is it going to cost to move over 400?

Every dollar amount mentioned above has been paid, or would be paid, by you, the taxpayer. We taxpayers have already invested in the RHCs. Closing RHCs does not save money because care still needs to be paid if people move, and the cost of community options is similar to the cost of RHCs. Therefore, no real savings.

These homes have been chosen by clients, and their families and guardians, as a living option. Requiring the taxpayers, during a $2.6 billion deficit, to pay for the unnecessary eviction of developmentally disabled adults is wasteful and just plain wrong.

Sola Raynor

Spokane