Panel Questions Keating Plan for Pauls Valley, Enid Centers, Cites Impact on Care for Developmentally Disabled

Governor Keating's plan to close facilities for the developmentally disabled in Pauls Valley and Enid is getting bad reviews in a new investigative report released by a legislative committee.

The Senate Deregulation Committee has spent the past two months investigating and hearing testimony on the Governor's proposal to downsize the Southern Oklahoma Resources Center at Pauls Valley and the Northern Oklahoma Resource Center and Greer Center at Enid and move the residents to private care facilities in the community.

"Our investigation indicated that there wasn't a lot of thought devoted to this proposal before it was thrown out on the table. Maybe in his rush to privatize state services, the Governor lost sight of the people we're really trying to help ­the developmentally disabled and their families," said Senator Herb Rozell, chairman of the committee.

In its final report, the bipartisan panel recommended that the Governor's plan for across-the-board budget cuts be scrapped, saying implementation of the initiative "would seriously compromise the quality of care for the state's most fragile." The report also questioned the lack of detail in the Keating proposal.

The report's main findings include:

• The Governor¹s proposal to cut 498 state jobs at the centers could inadvertently cost the state an estimated $13.5 million in federal funding which is dependent on certain staffing levels;
  
  
• The Governor's staff reduction proposal is flawed because it is based on improper data. The Governor used national staff ratios from the "Braddock Report" as the basis for his recommendations, but authors of that report and a national developmental disabilities association testified that such use is inappropriate, given the varying degrees of institutional and community care in the 50 states;
  
  
• The directors of the NORC and SORC reported that they cannot cut staffing to the levels recommended by Governor Keating without seriously compromising the quality of services.

The report's recommendations include:

• The Governor¹s proposal for across-the-board budget cuts at the centers should not be implemented;
  
  
• The Department of Human Services should not proceed with any privatization plans which jeopardize the health and safety of vulnerable clients;
  
  
• The DHS should consider adopting the "North Dakota" model for community-based services, expanding the mission and scope of services offered at the Pauls Valley and Enid centers. This would provide quality care to clients both at the institution and in the community;
  
  
• The committee supports DHS efforts to secure in-home support waivers, giving families more choices and providing services to more clients on waiting lists;
  
  
• Any savings achieved through any downsizing efforts should be re-invested in community service programs serving clients on waiting lists.

"I think everyone ­the clients, their families and the taxpayers­ would be better served if we put the brakes on Governor Keating's proposal. We can't afford to jump into something like this without doing our homework first," said Senator Rozell.

In the executive budget for FY 2000, the Governor's budget office billed the proposal as strictly a cost-saving measure, but Rozell is questioning that assessment, saying experiences from other states indicate that the transition from institutional to community care requires more funding, not less.

"We really shouldn¹t be going into this process with the idea that we're going to save a bunch of money because experience tells us that's not going to happen. What we should be focusing on is the people who need these services and how to deliver the best possible care to them. They're far more important than any accountant's bottom line," said Senator Rozell.

Senator Trish Weedn represents the district where the Pauls Valley facility is located. She wants the Governor to take a close look at the report's recommendations.

"Based on the findings of the report, I'm urging Governor Keating to drop his plan to cut Pauls Valley. It isn't a good idea for the clients or the people who work there. We have a great facility and hundreds of dedicated employees who need to be supported, not put on the chopping block," said Senator Weedn.