BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A steering committee has recommended integration of Hamilton County's developmentally disabled children and adults into the community -- a plan that would increase their numbers in public schools and the workplace.
The plan would open the doors of previously segregated settings for many of the disabled. But many caregivers argue it would only hurt "our community's most vulnerable citizens" in the name of political correctness.
"I think that our kids are a little bit different," said Thomas Imhoff of Delhi Township, the father of two severely retarded children. "We are not afraid of inclusion. I don't think we're afraid of having our kids out in public. But they would not do well in the public school system. They do not do well in the work environment."
The Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR - DD) heard from dozens of angry parents and guardians about recommendations on how the agency's role must change in the future. A public hearing was held Wednesdayat the Robert W. Franks Adult Center in Bridgetown.
More than 100 people attended the meeting to offer input about an evaluation of MR - DD by an independent consultant and a steering committee. The evaluation focuses on areas in need of change so that MR - DD is able to best serve the developmentally disabled in the future.
The evaluation recommended that the board -- over the next 10 years -- move away from offering direct services to the disabled such as special schools and workshops, and promote more community inclusion and integration. The recommendation -- one of several made in the evaluation -- caught many caregivers by surprise.
Several speakers at the meeting cried as they spoke about the future care of their children. Many were angry that MR - DD board members were absent from the hearing, which was attended by two MR - DD staffers who were to take written comments back to the board.
Others were left wondering whether public schools could handle their special-needs children. Public schools lack the concentrated, specialized staff that MR - DD provides now at its workshops and school programs. Public schools also have their own problems, they argued.
"If we all lived in a perfect world, this idea would work," said Linda Miller, whose daughter attends Margaret B. Rost School in Bridgetown. "The demand of providing services for each one of our children with the problems that they have would drive the public school system bankrupt.
"You have a system here that is already working," Ms. Miller said of facilities such as Rost.
In 1970, MR - DD served 834 people, providing group homes, workshops and schools for the disabled. Last year, that number was up to 9,189, with a budget of more than $53 million.
The recommendation of the steering committee reflects a trend away from the isolation of people with disabilities. But one speaker at Wednesday's hearing said the recommendations were being driven by "total inclusion radicals."
By farming out its services, MR - DD could concentrate on being more effective as a leader, planner, quality assurer and funder of services, the evaluation concluded. But the concept is not that simple, said Mr. Imhoff.
"You can contract out director services, but you cannot contract out the care, concern, love and dedication that these people (the current service staff for the disabled) have, which is what these kids and adults need."
