SDC advocates

Senator McGuire’s Town Hall Meeting Tonight!

/ Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

August 20, 2015:

Don’t forget, tonight is Senator McGuire’s Town Hall Meeting addressing the issues and future of SDC.
Please come out, show your support, and voice your concerns!

When: Thursday, August 20 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Where: Altamira Middle School, located at 17805 Arnold, Sonoma.

To read more about what has been covered at previous meetings as well as a quick overview as to what to expect at tonight’s meeting, please click on the link provided below.

Thank you, and hope to see you there tonight!

SDC issues tackled in Town Hall tonight

Provided courtesy of the Sonoma Index-Tribune website, by Christian Kallen.

McGuire’s Town Hall Meeting, August 20

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 1 Comment

August 17, 2015:

Local elected representatives will host a Town Hall meeting focused on the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center on August 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Altimira Middle School located at 17805 Arnold Drive.

Sponsored by State Senator Mike McGuire, State Senator Lois Wolk, Assemblymember Bill Dodd, Congressman Mike Thompson, and Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin, the community forum will discuss the issues surrounding the closure of the facility.

Please show your support and let your voice be heard by coming out to the meeting!

Pieces provided courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Sun website.

SDC Coalition Submits Comments on Closure Plan

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 1 Comment

August 11, 2015:

The attached document was provided to the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) at a meeting on August 7th  in response to the request from the Department to sit down and talk about what the SDC Coalition would like to see in the Center’s closure plan. This memo represents our best effort to summarize all the feedback we received from the community at our May 2nd “Transform SDC workshop” in Sonoma, and our technical analysis of what we need to see in the closure plan in order to meet our overall objectives for the future of SDC.

It remains to be seen how much of what we proposed will make it into the draft closure plan. The public comment deadline is September 1st, and we expect that a draft closure plan will be publicly released in mid-September.  DDS has indicated that they will also likely hold another public hearing to solicit feedback on the draft plan prior to the October 1st submittal deadline to the Legislature. If you or your organization are planning on submitting comments to DDS prior to September 1st, please feel free to use this memo as a basis for your comments.  The meeting on the 7th is also covered in today’s Index Tribune article by Christian Kallen, “Upcoming SDC meetings: public, private.”

Recommendations for the SDC Closure Plan, SDC Coalition

The Buck Stops Here

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 4 Comments

August 10, 2015:

What will be the future for the residents at SDC? What will happen to Buck?

“There is more meaning in those four words than anyone not familiar with SDC could ever know. More poignant meaning than any Sacramento legislator, any Department of Finance analyst, even any capital-based bureaucrat in the California Department of Developmental Services will know or care.”

Valley of Moon Magazine describes the meaning of this small metal plaque on the western railing of the bridge along with the current state of SDC and its residents.

Click on the link below to read more of this article.

Uncertain SDC

Provided courtesy of the Valley of the Moon Magazine’s website, by David Bolling.

Sonoma Land Trust Testimony, DDS Public Hearing

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 1 Comment

COMMENTS BY SONOMA LAND TRUST

DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES PUBLIC HEARING ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF SONOMA DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER

JULY 18, 2015

SONOMA  VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, SONOMA,  CA

My name is John McCaull, and I am a Land Acquisition Program Manager for the Sonoma Land Trust.  I currently live in Glen Ellen, and have lived and worked  in Sonoma County for the past 10 years. In my role with the land trust, I primarily focus on advancing our conservation agenda in the Sonoma Valley and Sonoma Mountain region. I also serve on the steering committee for the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) Coalition chaired by Supervisor Susan Gorin.

SDC has been a defining institution of the State of California and the Sonoma Valley for over 125 years.  There have been 23 Governors-if you count Jerry Brown twice-who have served since Robert Waterman  became Governor in 1891. As we face a decision by Governor Brown and the California Legislature to close SDC by 2018, we need to make choices over the next few years that honor the legacy of this incredible facility, and the remarkable natural lands that surround the developed campus.

Because time is limited today, I want to focus my testimony in outlining how the Sonoma Land Trust and the SDC Coalition intend to provide input to the closure plan, and the discussion of future uses of the property. Today, we are just submitting these general comments. By the September 1st comment deadline, we will also submit much more detailed written comments  addressing many of the different aspects of closure, and potential  reuse ideas for the property.

In addition  to our organization’s comments, we are working through  the TransformSDC Project and the SDC Coalition with a team of consultants and the entire Sonoma community to produce a feasibility study for different use scenarios for SDC. This study will look at comparable models from around  the country for other facilities and properties that may have faced similar choices while going through  a major use transition. We will submit a draft of the feasibility study by September 1, and a final draft sometime  during the month of September.

Based on the community workshop held in early May in Sonoma, we have also distilled a draft mission/vision statement for a transformed SDC:

Create a public-private  partnership driven by community ideas and values that showcases the site’s history, maintains critical services for the developmentally disabled and preserves the natural resources and open space of the site.

We have been calling these our pillars for a transformed SDC: a new regional hub for housing and health care services for the developmentally disabled and a protected and intact natural  landscape.  We believe this is also the vision that an overwhelming majority of Sonoma residents support.

Under the California Welfare and Institutions Code, whenever  the Department of Developmental Services proposes  to close a developmental center, they have to hold at least one public hearing prior to submitting the closure plan to the Legislature. Until this past year, the law has been unclear on the actual impact and substantive weight of public testimony.  The law only states  that DDS has to “summarize public comment” in the plan.

If the purpose  of today’s hearing is just to patiently sit through  hours of testimony and then summarize and categorize comments, this will have been a waste of everyone’s time.  I believe that the DDS staff here today, Director Rogers and Secretary Dooley are all committed  to the idea that the SDC closure planning process is different than any previous effort in California.  I believe that DDS is making a conscious choice by using the “transform” language on their web site and the notice for this meeting to return  to the spirit and recommendations from the January 2014 “Task Force Report on the Future of Developmental  Centers in California.” Transform  is a very different word than close, so I hope the real purpose of today-and the work we do together  over the next few months-is the beginning of a creative and collaborative  discussion about what a “transformed” SDC looks like, how do we fund it, and how do we make it happen.

One of the things that is certainly different from previous closures is our local legislators and Sonoma County spent months advocating for improvements to the closure law to ensure that we have a real voice in shaping the future of SDC, and influencing the manner  in which “closure” happens. There are new requirements adopted  as part of the state  budget that dramatically increase the specificity of what needs to be in a closure plan, and a new requirement that DDS “shall confer with the county in which the development center is located, and shall consider recommendations for the use of the developmental center property.”

In the months to come, we are going to spend a lot of time talking about how to realize our vision, what the various costs and practical consideration are, and how to identify other complementary uses that are consistent and compatible  with the two pillars we have identified.  What we ask of DDS, Secretary  Dooley and Governor Brown is true collaboration and a commitment to treat Sonoma as an equal partner in determining the future of SDC. That is the only real way to honor the legacy of this amazing institution.

Thanks very much.

To view a PDF version of Sonoma Land Trust’s testimony for future reference or to print it at your convenience, please click here.

Articles, Encapsulating the DDS Public Hearing

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

July 21, 2015:

With the DDS Public Hearing held last Saturday, there have been an array of articles summarizing what was heard from the community. Consisting of public testimonies, to that of personal stories from family members and friends, the concern for the future of those living at the Sonoma Developmental Center was voiced. Starting with 125 people in attendance, those who spoke shared the importance of keeping the Center open for this fragile population, as well as preserving the surrounding wildlife.

Please click on the following articles below, starting with the most recent on top to get a clearer perspective on the significance of protecting both the natural resources on the 950-acre property as well as access to critical care for residents.

Public testimony reveals pain of SDC closure, July 20 

Family members argue against closure of Sonoma Developmental Center, July 18

Sonoma Developmental Center hearing, July 18 

Human stories to be aired at SDC session, July 16 

Provided courtesy of the Sonoma Index-Tribune website by Christian Kallen and by Bill Hoban, and the Press Democrat website by Kevin McCallum, respectively.

Action Alert! Turn Out for Public Hearing on the Future of SDC on July 18th

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 1 Comment

July 14, 2015:

Governor Brown directed the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to close the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) by 2018, and submit a closure plan to the Legislature by October 1, 2015. DDS is holding a mandatory public hearing on  “Transformation of Sonoma Developmental Center” this Saturday, July 18, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Sonoma Valley High School.  In order to be most effective, we need to show DDS that we care, that we share a common vision, and that we are organized and able to turn out in large numbers.

This Action Alert provides information about the hearing, the process for submitting oral or written comments, and suggested talking points.

Please click on the link provided below to view.

Thank you!

DDS Hearing Action Alert

PHA: Essential Elements of a Plan for Closure of SDC

/ Sonoma Land Trust / Leave a comment

July 14, 2015:

Below is the Parent Hospital Association’s (PHA) Essential Elements of an SDC Closure/Transformation. It mirrors the coalition service plan in most ways, but in addition, includes a couple other aspects that the PHA board thought essential to the plan.

The plan is also available as a downloadable PDF, provided here.

Essential Elements of a Plan for Closure

of Sonoma Developmental Center

submitted on behalf of PHA

In the plan for closure of Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) completed by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), there should be certain elements included. These elements have been used in plans for closure in other states where there has been a directed effort to reduce reliance on institutional facilities and to provide for the variety of needs that are created by not having them.

First, the plan should include provisions for services to individuals who have been deflected to inappropriate living situations because there has been a multi-year “moratorium” on admissions to SDC. These individuals would include minimally the individuals registered with the eight Northern California Regional Centers who would have normally referred clients to SDC who:

1. Currently reside in jail.
2. Currently reside in an acute psychiatric facility or being held on a 5150.
3. Have been held on a 5150 in an acute psychiatric facility more than three (3) times in the last year.
4. Have been recommended to be demitted from their current home due to behavioral issues.
5. Is living in temporary housing such as a homeless shelter, hotel, or other such arrangement,
6. Are determined to be at significant risk of harm to self or others in their current home with the level of care and support currently provided.

Second, the plan should include personally required services currently provided at SDC and not readily available in the community living arrangements in the eight Northern California Regional Centers. PHA’s position is that these services should be developed on the SDC site concurrent with closure activities. These services would include a clinic that:

1. Provides a primary care physician that would be responsible for coordinating the overall health care management
2. Provides an annual dental examination & treatment as necessary;
3. Provides durable medical equipment adaptation and maintenance and repair.
4. Coordinates a review by a neurologist if the individual has a seizure disorder and has had more than 3 seizures in a 30 day period;
5. Coordinates a review by an ophthalmologist for all individuals over the age of 65 for cataracts or other eye diseases and availability of alternatives;
6. Provides an annual review by a psychiatrist or physician with more than 2 years of experience with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of their psychiatric/behavioral medication regimen; and
7. Provides a review by a licensed psychologist of the individual’s behavior support plans if they require them upon their move from SDC and annually thereafter.
8. Retain acute care license for clinic/medical facility.

Third, any plan that is developed should include the assurance of transparency in reporting, including information to assist in the assessment of the placement and support of the individual being moved from SDC including all information currently available from SDC, especially

1. Any use of restraint, manual or mechanical,
2. Any use of seclusion
3. Any use of emergency psychiatric medications, (STAT)
4. Any significant injury received by the individual during a behavioral episode
5. Any unexplained injury
6. A mortality review of all deaths.

Fourth, the plan should include the availability of emergency services and other necessary medical and health services on the SDC site, including

1.Behavioral/psychiatric emergency and crisis services, overseen by a licensed psychologist or physician with 2 years of experience working with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities available within 2 – 72 hours
2. A facility that can provide longer term behavioral treatment from which they cannot be expelled or demitted
3. Enhanced behavioral homes with delayed egress

With these elements included in the plan for a closure of SDC, there is at least a plan to provide for the care and support necessary to maintain, assess, review, intervene when necessary and assure the ongoing success of the individual, especially those with complex behavioral and dual diagnosis needs.

Provided courtesy of the Parent Hospital Association (PHA).