This letter is taken from Sacbee / Opinion / Letters to the Editor.

Letters: Health, privatization, etc.
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, January 5, 2007

A flashpoint that shouldn't be

Re "Conflict is boiling over care / The death of a severely retarded man is the latest flashpoint in a battle between families and the state over its developmental centers," Jan. 1: Donald Santiago's death was tragic and, if it was avoidable, should result in appropriate remedial action. There is a danger, however, of overgeneralizing from such instances to conclude that the state and national movement to provide community living options for people with disabilities is misguided or should be slowed.

By focusing on individual instances, news articles often fail to note that institutionalization is almost never necessary to provide quality care. More than 200,000 Californians with developmental disabilities already live successfully in the community, including people with disabilities as significant as those who remain institutionalized.

Studies comparing those who remain in developmental centers with those who have moved to the community almost invariably show improvements in skills and quality of life for the movers. And, significantly, tragic occurrences are not limited to community homes. Since Santiago moved to the community, for example, there were at least half a dozen pneumonia-related deaths among the few hundred people remaining at Agnews Developmental Center.

We must begin working cooperatively to maximize community integration and inclusion, which for too long has been the goal but still not the reality for several thousand Californians with developmental disabilities.

- Eric Gelber, Sacramento

Managing Attorney,
Protection & Advocacy Inc.

Blood on the state's hands

This well-written article by Clea Benson ("Conflict is boiling over care," Jan. 1) says that community placement of Donald Santiago was necessitated by a Supreme Court decision requiring community living. No such decision was reached by the court.

Actually, a sharply divided court found that individuals in state hospitals should be assessed to determine if they could live in less restrictive settings. Four of the judges rejected this requirement.

Five said it was necessary and should result in the replacement of many individuals into community settings. Implicit in the decision was an assumption by all nine justices that the least restrictive alternative for some individuals was their present setting, i.e. a state hospital.

>From the family's point of view, Santiago was one of them. Had he been an actual 2-year-old, no one would have argued that he could decide for himself where he wanted to live. However, here, because he is severely disabled and has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old, his family chose to speak for him. The state, nonetheless, using devious means, thwarted them. Santiago's blood is now on their hands and they now face the challenge of avoiding repetition of this tragedy.

- Norman D. Clayton, Sacramento

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They're our family and friends

Donald Santiago was a son, brother and friend. He is now a statistic in a long line of unfortunate tragedies plaguing the California landscape.

Aggressive deinstitutionalization and negligible government oversight are to blame for these tragedies. California's Protection & Advocacy Inc. is also to blame for forcing deinstitutionalization.

Misinterpretation of the landmark 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision doesn't help. Olmstead does not "require community living." The court stated, "We emphasize that nothing in the ADA ... condones termination of institutional settings for persons unable to handle or benefit from community settings ... . Nor is there any federal requirement that community-based treatment be imposed on patients who do not desire it."

As taxpayers and as humane beings, we must insist that services for our most vulnerable citizenry be adequately funded with reliable government oversight. The benefactors of our goodwill are the people with mental disabilities who are our relatives, friends and neighbors.

- Mary E. McTernan, Chicago
President, Voice of the Retarded

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