ALBANY – Operating Broome Developmental Disabilities Services in Binghamton is a tough challenge as it is, but consolidating that facility with the Valley Ridge Center For Intensive Treatment in Norwich is “a very bad idea,” according to New York Senator Thomas Libous’ office.
Libous was unable to personally comment on the consolidation this week, but his public affairs representative offered the following statement yesterday: “Senator Libous believes consolidating two facilities in two different locations serving two different populations is a very bad idea. That’s why he voted against the proposal in the state budget.”
The Valley Ridge CIT and Broome DDSO are both units of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Valley Ridge is home to about 60 individuals who have developmental disabilities that require intensive treatment services due to their offending or criminal behaviors. Broome DDSO offers a variety of services in partnership with local governments and the voluntary not-for-profit providers for people of all ages with developmental disabilities and their families. DDSO services are provided in Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
The consolidation was approved in April as part of the 2009-2010 legislative budget. The OMRDD is currently in the process of combining the two entities, and the effort is expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
Broome DDSO Director Carl Letson said the CIT “will continue to function as it is now, in the same vein,” however, he confirmed that two management level positions, a security officer position and three staff positions would be affected by combining the two entities.
The status of a local board charged with monitoring the CIT on behalf of the Chenango County community is also in question. It could be absorbed within Broome DDSO, Levin said, or its members forced to drive to Binghamton for quarterly meetings.
The former president of the Valley Ridge CIT Board of Visitors, Irad Ingraham of New Berlin, said the board “really doesn’t have an awful lot of information” about the consolidation. Current Board President Steve Bernardi of Norwich could not be reached for comment.
The move was a surprise to those who negotiated the siting of the OMRDD maximum security facility in Chenango County nearly a decade ago. Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Richard B. Decker, R-North Norwich, said he was not informed until reading about the consolidation in the media. He said he is concerned about “security and agreements.”
“I would like to make it clear that I was not a part of this, and they didn’t consult with the county as to what they were going to do up there. That does bother me. I hope that in the near future they would see fit to contact us,” he said.
Decker, Commerce Chenango, and a host of public and private officials laid out stipulations and commitments for accepting the CIT a decade ago, one of which was that the inmates, called consumers, would not be allowed off-site excursions into Chenango County as part of their therapies.
“I am concerned that they continue the security measures and other agreements in place up there. One of the original agreements was that they wouldn’t be taking the residents into the area,” said Decker.
Letson will assume overall responsibility for Valley Ridge. Nicholas Andrews, deputy director of administration since the CIT opened in 2002, was let go, and a chief safety officer will no longer be on site full time. In addition, CIT Director Chuck Kearley’s role will change.
OMRDD Executive Deputy Commissioner Max Chmura said Kearley will be working in intensive treatment at “other OMRDD facilities statewide in an effort to promote consistency and enhance the effectiveness and efficiencies of their operation.”
“The consolidation of Broome Developmental Disability Service Office and Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment is the first step. It is also an opportunity to work cooperatively with other facilities to improve upon the quality of the services OMRDD provides. Chuck’s experience and expertise will enhance OMRDD’s efforts to promote consistency across the system,” said Chmura.
With both Andrews and Kearley gone, OMRDD has eliminated every manager who was a part of Valley Ridge since its inception. Some in the community, who wished to remain anonymous, say they are concerned about safety and that previous assurances made will be forgotten.
“The people in charge have no experience with running a place like Valley Ridge. They are putting it under the control of a bunch of out of towners who really don’t know anything about running a place like this,” said an individual who contacted the paper.
OMRDD provides person-centered services, supports and advocacy to approximately 125,000 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in New York State.