Group Homes Not the Answer to CVTC’s Future

The News & Advance
Published: October 4, 2008

While the debate over the future of large state institutions continues across the nation, a microcosm of that discussion has developed at the Central Virginia Training Center in Madison Heights.

It’s an old debate. It essentially pits advocates of small group homes for the severely mentally and physically handicapped against those who believe that large institutions can best serve society’s most profoundly challenged.

Small group homes are based in community neighborhoods. They spread the care of those who need it in communities large and small around the state. Large institutions, meanwhile, concentrate the care in one area for a much larger number of residents.

The training center, with 460 residents is the largest of five state residential programs for people with severe mental and physical disabilities. With a staff of about 1,500, it is also Amherst County’s largest employer.

The debate over large versus small intensified here several years ago when the state first broached the subject of replacing the training center with a new, smaller facility costing some $160 million. State officials and legislators decided the price tag was too high and opted last year for a renovation project budgeted at about $43 million.

But how that money will be spent has been the subject of an ongoing debate that touches on the future of those 460 residents and how they will be cared for by the state in coming years.

A renovation committee composed of stakeholders in the training center met last week to take a look at how the renovation money could be best spent. First on the list — and there’s no debate about this — are the life-safety issues. Some of the housing areas do not have sprinkler systems. Others don’t have traditional bedrooms, but residents live in areas with sectioned off half-walls that would mean little protection against a fast-moving fire.

Four buildings with living areas are under consideration for renovation. Denise Micheletti, CVTC director, underscored the importance of getting the project started when she said, “The reality is we’ve got to keep people safe. For some of us who have been here on those dark nights when our power goes out and we have no generators and we’ve got people ... who can’t help themselves at all and we have no power and no sprinklers, it’s very scary.”

Beyond the life-safety issues, however, the question at the state level seems to be whether the remaining money should go into modifying old buildings or into developing new options like state-run group homes.

Dr. James Reinhard, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services signaled that change is around the corner. “The future is not going to be the same for CVTC,” he said, adding, “There’s not total agreement with what should happen with large institutions.” He said that many advocates want small group homes in the community, noting that some states have closed their large institutions and rely only on community-based care.

His suggestion that the state take a longer look at how the balance of the renovation money should be spent was not well received by the parents of residents at the meeting.

“I had the impression the $43 million was designated for improvements at CVTC,” said Joan Milnor of Lynchburg. “When you talk about someone going out in the community, you can’t just look at the home they’re going to live in. What about the team that works with (the individual)?” she asked.

In the community, “that service is simply not out there. It is here, not out there.”

Some of the renovation money may fall victim to budget cuts imposed by the slumping economy that has forced Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to ask agencies for cuts throughout state government. A visit from the U.S. Department of Justice in November to investigate a complaint relating to violation of residents’ civil rights could also alter the renovation debate.

Nonetheless, the parents of residents at the training center have made clear their opposition to small group homes in place of the larger institution. Time after time, they have made a good case for keeping CVTC as a center for the most profoundly challenged residents. The state should listen carefully to their arguments.