Hasty Monroe DC closure puts sex offenders in community WEST SENECA — Local communities in western New York are responding with anger and alarm after discovering the hasty closure of the Monroe Developmental Center has meant the placement of sexual predators in unrestricted group homes in their neighborhoods. Even worse, local state legislators have been stonewalled by the state Office of People with Developmental Disabilities when they have sought information. Sex offenders formerly housed in the secure Monroe Developmental Center have been moved to group homes in the Buffalo and Rochester areas. CSEA activist Kathy Button, a 45- year employee of OPWDD raised the issue during state budget hearings in Albany. “The closure of Monroe Developmental Center was done in a very disheartening way,” she told lawmakers. “The individuals being placed in community homes from Monroe have very special needs, behavior problems and some are pedophiles who require specially trained direct care staff.” CSEA contends that the closure process was at best inconsistent and at worst, reckless and irresponsible. Staff were not adequately prepared or trained for working with sexual predators. The union believes OPWDD could have taken greater care to ensure better preparation at facilities, taken steps for more security within the homes and been more consistent with the placements. It is also clear that the agency could have better informed the communities that these individuals were coming into their midst. The Work Force spoke with four members of the CSEA Finger Lakes Office of People with Developmental Disabilities Local on the condition of anonymity. The names used in this article are not the union members’ real names. The CSEA members are familiar with both the secure Monroe Developmental Center, which closed last year, and with group homes. “This is a bomb waiting to explode, and it will explode,” said Mike. “Disaster is inevitable. The consumers who lived in these secure units are not ‘stupid’ people. These are extremely high functioning, strategic people who did very bad things and now they are living in the community. Some of them went from having very restrictive care plans to being ‘community capable’ just like that.” Staff in the group homes has not been trained to work with sex offenders and consumers from secure units, said CSEA member Betty Lou. There are many things — things as simple as a Disney movie —, which would have been not permitted, in the secure units of MDC. Those stimuli exist in the group homes. Additionally, staffing levels are much lower in the community group home setting. As a result staff, the other consumers and the community could be at risk. About 100 consumers in the Monroe Developmental Center forensics units had to be moved to new residences. They have been scattered throughout Western New York and the state. “Some of the consumers did not want to leave Monroe Developmental,” Ralph said. “They themselves are concerned about what they might do in the community without the reinforcements they had in the forensics units. There was no transition period. They were in a secure facility one day and in a less secure community setting the next.” “This is not about people receiving the care they need or about keeping the community safe,” Ralph said. “This is about West Seneca resident Tony Fischione addresses the 300 community residents who participated in a recent march from a park to the two group homes where sex offenders have been placed. money.” That’s something community residents also believe. Led by community resident Tony Fischione, more than 300 people rallied in a nearby park and marched less than a half-mile to the nearby group homes. The point, Fischione said, was to demonstrate just how close to a park these sex offenders live. “We are not against group homes and we are not against the developmentally disabled,” Fischione said. “We have people in Albany who are taking out tax dollars and relocating sex offenders into our neighborhood adjacent to a park. Governor Cuomo doesn’t care about you. He just wants our tax dollars. We are going to be watching and we are not going to give up until (the sex offenders) have been moved out.” — Lynn Miller See pages 8-12 for related stories about bad budget choices. Visit www.cseany.org for the latest news and state budget analysis. March 2014 The Work Force 3
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