TRENTON — People concerned about the planned closure of two state institutions for people with developmental disabilities in the next 4-1/2 years are invited to testify at a legislative hearing Wednesday morning at Montclair State University.
The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Assembly Human Services Committee have scheduled a joint hearing to discuss the pending closures of the North Jersey and Woodbridge Developmental centers and the impact this will have on residents and their families.
A panel appointed by Gov. Chris Christie and legislative leaders voted in July to close the developmental centers, two of seven run by the state, so more government funds may be used to provide community housing.
The panel’s vote was binding.
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Parents and other family members of some residents have retained an attorney, vowing to contest the decision they contend will needlessly disrupt the lives of residents with signficant mental and physical disabilities. Some families say state have told them their their loved ones will be transferred to developmental centers in Cumberland and Burlington counties if they choose not to place them in smaller, supervised community housing.
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Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), who chairs the Senate health committee, said the legislature is powerless to overturn the decision made by the Christie administration. But by inviting state Human Services officials, who oversee the centers, to the hearing, legislators want to discuss options of keeping as many residents in or close to Woodbridge as possible.
One idea could be to allow people who cannot live in group housing to remain at a smaller facility on the Woodbridge center’s property, he said.
“Many of these parents are elderly, and it could take a minimum of two hours for them to drive to visit their children” if they are transferred to south Jersey. “Some visit several times a week, so that is unacceptable,” Vitale said.
The hearing, chaired by Vitale and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, will begin at 11 a.m. at the university Conference Center on the 7th Floor of University Hall. People presenting written testimony are asked to provide 25 copies for members of the committees.
The meeting will be live-streamed www.montclair.edu/webcast.
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