School for developmentally disabled loses federal money

OLYMPIA – A state-run school for people with developmental disabilities is losing some of its federal funding.

The Seattle Times reports that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decertified one of programs at the Rainier School in Thurston County, citing the institution’s failure to meet basic safety and health requirements.

It could cost Washington roughly $12 million in annual federal funding.

The entire school houses about 240 people, 80 of whom are in the program that was decertified. The Department of Social and Health Services says it has already started transferring those residents to other facilities.

In a similar move last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decertified Western State Hospital, Washington’s largest psychiatric facility, costing $53 million in annual funding.

Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed 2019-21 state operating budget would provide for boosted staffing at Washington’s residential facilities and would fund additional community beds for those with developmental disabilities.