Families fight to keep facility open

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Parents got a chance to weigh in with state health officials Thursday, on Governor Tim Kaine's plan to close Southeastern Virginia Training Center in Chesapeake.

State budget cuts could move more than a hundred intellectually disabled residents to other facilities. More than 4-hundred workers would also be forced to move to other facilities.

A not so simple transition.

Mary Ellen Spencer tells WAVY.com her 29-year-old daughter Jessica is a handful and needs all the attention she gets at Southeastern Virginia Training Center.

She says, "I don't know what they would do with her because she needs one on one attention so she doesn't hurt herself. A group home doesn't have enough people in there to manage and control her. I regularly get calls that she's hurt herself."

But that's where Jessica and more than a hundred other southeastern residents could be heading if the center closes.

Health Secretary Marilyn Tavenner said, "Some are what's called intensive care, MR facilities so it would be a wide variety. We would work with each family and for those who would want to continue with institutional care then would look at transferring their family member to Petersburg or Lynchburg."

Tavenner and other state health officials heard from parents in a packed gymnasium at southeastern. The majority of parents asked state officials not to close the facility. But they say the ultimate decision rests with the General Assembly to save millions of dollars.

Parent, Sandy Hermann says if southeastern didn't remain open she'd have to send her daughter to a facility that's not state run.

"I think that people with disabilities have the ability of being served in the community. People with disabilities even with the most significant ones like my daughter is adequately served in the community," Hermann told WAVY.com.

If Spencer had her way she'd enroll her daughter in a facility near her northern Virginia home. She says the trouble is, Jessica's been on the waiting list for close to eight years and space is at a premium.

There will be more opportunities for public comment at monthly advisory committee meetings.

The state is working on a website listing available resources for parents that should be up and running next week.