Board of Supervisors

McGuire’s Letter

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June 16, 2015:

With news of Governor Brown’s plan to close SDC by 2018, the Sonoma legislative delegation has been urging the Governor to include critical protections for SDC residents, staff and the property’s natural resources in the final version of the FY 2015-2016 state budget which directs DDS to submit a closure plan to the Legislature for review.

“Ensuring that appropriate and individualized community services are in place before residents are moved from the SDC to community placements. Ensuring that critical services…”

Please click on the link provided below to read the rest of this letter.

McGuire’s Letter

Thank you!

Change, SDC’s Future

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 5 Comments

June 15, 2015:

A great article from the Valley of the Moon Magazine describes the Sonoma Developmental Center, capturing the struggles the Center continues to face and the obvious fact that change will happen in the near future.

“400 severely disabled human beings,
1,300 jobs, 945 acres of priceless open space.
What will the future hold?”

Please take a few minutes to read this insightful article below.

Inside Outside SDC

Provided courtesy of the Valley of the Moon Magazine, with stories and photos by David Bolling.

Programs For Developmentally Disabled Could Be Cut

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 10, 2015:

Workshops such as the one described in the article below allow individuals with developmental disabilities to feel a sense of independence that they can’t find just anywhere. Although California has the largest amount of developmentally disabled individuals, we spend the least, and with program closures, beds and work options for this fragile population have been lost.

Please click on the link below to read the rest of this article.

Developmentally disabled to lose programs if California budget remains stagnant

Provided courtesy of the Los Angeles Daily News website, by Susan Abram.

Sonoma Developmental Center, Sonoma Land Trust Update

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 5, 2015:

Following on the heels of our Transform SDC public workshop, we learned that the Governor’s budget calls for an expedited closure plan of the Sonoma Development Center.

Ultimately, the plan for Sonoma Development Center needs to represent a public-private partnership which creates durable solutions that are derived from the ideas and interests of the community.

Please take a couple of minutes to read the SDC update provided in the link below.

Sonoma Developmental Center, Sonoma Land Trust Update

DDS Announces Closure and Stakeholder Outreach Plan for SDC

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 5, 2015:

On behalf of the Department of Developmental Services Director Santi Rogers, the following letter, addressed to residents, family members, employees, regional centers, and other interested parties explains the efforts being put forth and the plan moving forward for the Sonoma Developmental Center since the announcement of SDC’s proposed closure by 2018.

“The state is attempting to negotiate a settlement with the federal government to continue….”

Please click on the link below to read the rest of this letter.

DDS Announces Closure and Stakeholder Outreach Plan for SDC

SDC Fact Sheet For Our Legislative Effort

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 1, 2015:

Sonoma County, Parent Hospital Association, Sonoma Ecology Center and the Sonoma Land Trust have produced a two page “fact sheet” for use in our legislative effort to ensure that the closure process for SDC includes meaningful and significant public participation, and that the residents, employees and resources of SDC are honored and protected during this process.  The fact sheet is in direct response to many of the concerns and criticisms that we heard in the Legislature this past year about the quality of care at SDC, and a general lack of knowledge about its many benefits and resources.

Please take a look at the fact sheet provided in the link below.

SDC Fact Sheet

Continuing Talks About SDC Closure

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 4 Comments

June 1, 2015:

The desire to close the Sonoma Developmental Center in three years, as previously stated is too soon. But with this timeline in place, the coalition has been working extra hard to find a way to extend it and create a plan based off the feedback received at the first workshop to delay these closure plans imposed by Governor Brown’s office.

For the latest article on SDC, please click on the link below.

Governor wants to close SDC in three years

Provided courtesy of The Kenwood Press website, by Jay Gamel.

Questioning the Value of Small Group Homes For All

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May 27, 2015:

The following article offers evidence that for some developmentally disabled people, large campuses and farmsteads are better than small group homes.

Click on the link below to read about these insightful findings, where new state laws could infringe on big facilities ability to survive.

Who Decides Where Autistic Adults Live?

Provided courtesy of The Atlantic website, by Amy S.F. Lutz.

SDC Closure Letter From Assemblymember Marc Levine

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May 21, 2015:

The following is an additional letter that has been submitted to the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees from Assemblymember Marc Levine regarding the Governor’s recent budget proposal to close SDC by 2018 along with the trailer bill language requiring that the Department of Developmental Services provide a closure plan to the Legislature by October 1st of this year.

“Therefore, I respectfully request that if closure of SDC remains in the budget, that the appropriate Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees consider the following changes in adopting budget language relative to closure of SDC…”

Click on the link below to read the entirety of the letter.

SDC Closure Letter From Assemblymember Marc Levine

Local Writer on Preserving Sonoma Developmental Center

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May 21, 2015:

Lost in the flurry of articles, local writer Will Shonbrun wrote a well written editorial over a month ago that still holds true to the SDC Coalition’s goals despite recent news of the state’s plan to close the Sonoma Developmental Center by 2018.

Please take a look at the article below, describing possible and more desirable plans for the future of SDC than closure.

Preserving Sonoma Developmental Center

Provided courtesy of The Kenwood Press website, by Will Shonbrun.