1087-S.E AMS CHAS JONE 009

ESHB 1087 - S AMD TO S COMM AMD (S-2838.3) 376

By Senator Chase

NOT ADOPTED 04/18/2011

     On page 47, after line 32, insert the following:

"(e) The department shall keep all RHCs open until there are sufficient community options and support services and appropriate safety precautions and supports available to serve the clients who currently reside in these residential habilitation centers.  The department is directed to admit those individuals who are at “immediate risk” or in need of “immediate stabilization."  Any fiscal assumptions related to moving people from residential habilitation centers to the community must factor in adequate funding to provide oversight in a fractured system that is as good  or better than the current oversight achieved in the institutional settings in the state.  The assumptions must take into account protection needed for very vulnerable individuals in small isolated settings around the state, not just for the relatively few years that aging individuals reside in them.  The oversight needed in community settings for people with developmental disabilities is for the lifespan of individuals, which means decades."

EFFECT:   Directs the department to keep all residential habilitation centers (RHCs) open until sufficient community services are available and that any fiscal assumptions related to moving RHC residents to the community take into account the full costs of providing services.  

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