The population is on its way down at the Jacksonville Developmental Center.
It was 196 in September of last year. Now it's 163, with the pace of decline expected to pick up to meet a projected closing date of October 31st. Karen Ward, vice president of public policy for the disability rights group Equip for Equality, is looking for a smooth transition from institutional care at Jacksonville to smaller settings known as community care. The Murray Developmental Center in Centralia also will close, but not until November of 2013. Ward says institutions the size of the Jacksonville and Murray developmental centers are not needed for the developmentally disabled. Ward says she is pleased that Jacksonville and Murray are being closed as a matter of policy - deinstitutionalizing the developmentally disabled - rather than strictly for budgetary reasons. She says her organization is mindful that there are Jacksonville and Murray employees who will be displaced, but she says that is not a reason to keep open facilities that have outlived their usefulness.
Earlier this year Jacksonville's census was 185. Murray has about 274 residents. The Governor's office says 100% of the cost reduction from the closure of Jacksonville will be invested in transitions of Murray residents during Fiscal 2013. The Governor estimates the cost reduction of closing the two facilities at $22.7 Million in Fiscal Year 2014.
