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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A disabled-rights advocacy group has asked legislators to close the state Developmental Center, the 75-year-old treatment facility at American Fork for the mentally disabled.
Fraser Nelson, director of the Disability Law Center, told members of a legislative task force on Medicaid on Monday that if they want to slow Medicaid spending, "look no further than the state Developmental Center."
Nelson asked the task force to explore selling the center and putting the profits in a trust to pay for less expensive care options, such as group homes and supervised apartments.
The center, formerly called the state Training School, serves 235 of the 4,000 Utahns receiving services through the state Division of Services for People with Disabilities. It consumes 25 percent of the division's budget.
Nelson said it costs about $400 per person per day, compared with $75 per person daily for services delivered in people's homes or homelike settings,
State Human Services officials contend the center is needed to serve the most severely disabled people, some of whom are violent and pose a danger to the community.
Karen Clarke, superintendent of the center, said the average length of stay at the Developmental Center is between three months and one year.
Asked whether he would consider phasing out the Developmental Center, Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, said, "It didn't strike me as a crazy idea."
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
