February 16, 2015

Bolinsky, Legislature’s I/DD Caucus Unveil Goals for 2015 Session

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HARTFORD- State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) and the other members of the General Assembly’s Intellectual and Developmentally Disabled (I/DD) Caucus today unveiled their legislative priorities for the 2015 legislative session, seeking substantial changes in the delivery of services and protection of pre-rescission state funding levels for intellectually and developmentally disabled state residents and their families.

Bolinsky and the 60-member bipartisan and bicameral I/DD caucus supports legislation designed to:

Close the state Department of Developmental Services’ Southbury Training School by 2020 and move its remaining 300-plus residents to community-based settings; shift all Southbury closure savings, approximately $237,000 per-person or upwards of $75 million, to community-based settings in order to reduce or eliminate the waiting list of approx. 2,000 disabled clients seeking supportive housing; evaluate the best use for the Southbury property and buildings and conduct an environmental assessment.
Restore and maintain DDS funding at pre-rescission levels in the FY 2016-17 biennial state budget.
Study the creation of a client trust fund for individual spend-down requirements.

“This aggressive and compassionate new legislative agenda will propel Connecticut into the 21st-Century, in terms of best practices in caring for society’s most vulnerable individuals. Community-based residential services allow people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be close to their families, provide them opportunities to live more independently and, when possible, become active, contributing members of their communities,” said Bolinsky.

The I/DD Caucus issued its goals today in advance of Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s February 18 biennial state budget address, which is expected to impact health and human services spending in Connecticut.

Bolinsky added, “Institutional settings like Southbury are less dignified, warehouse-like settings that provide fewer opportunities for personal fulfillment and personalized, engaged care. If this quality of life improvement were not enough, Connecticut taxpayers should also know that this supportive-living model also delivers its better care at a lower, per-person cost. It’s truly a win-win allowing our society to compassionately serve more, or perhaps all, individuals needing these supports at current budget levels. These changes are a quantum leap forward and cannot happen quickly enough!”