Nevertheless, the final recommendations of the Reuse Committee, which includes the Mayor of Waltham, members of the City Council and state Legislature, and two members of the state Division of Capital Asset Management, will carry some weight in whatever plans the City of Waltham and the Legislature ultimately approve for the site. Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and Joe Vizard, chair of the Reuse/Intake Subcommittee, are both on record as favoring the retention of a smaller facility at the site for all of the current Fernald Center residents.
Sasaki Associates will consider ways to include the Village at Fernald proposal, also known as the “Postage-Stamp” proposal, as part of a proposed “health care district” on the campus. That “district” may also include a nursing home or assisted living facility. The Armenian Woman's Welfare Association has proposed building the nursing home there.
Under our proposal, old and inefficient buildings at the Fernald site would be torn down and new housing needed for the current residents would be financed by the site developer in exchange for a reduced price in acquiring the land from the state.
Other proposals that garnered approval from the Reuse/Intake Subcommittee yesterday include an open-space Greenway at Fernald, a community farm, a city cemetery, preservation of existing recreational fields, affordable housing, and an “incubator office” to promote research and development of emerging technologies. A proposed movie studio was rejected by the panel.
We're grateful for the support we've gotten in Waltham for preserving the long-time home of residents of the Fernald Center in an accceptable form. We hope the Patrick administration will agree one day to join in the discussion over this idea and in the planning needed to bring it to reality.
Academic supporters of community-for-everyone with Intellectual Disability are never-the-less increasingly interested in village concepts. Here is a major summary article from last May that considers community placements superior to facilities on seven of ten measures, but acknowledges that facilities still have better outcomes in mortality, challenging behaviors, and avoiding overuse of psycho-active drugs. In the discussion of the mortality issue, it refers to a movement toward village concepts to get back some of the safety of secure and comprehensive treatment.
<
p>http://www.community-living.in…
<
p>A difficulty of the public debate is that the proponents of closing the developmental centers have conflated closing large facilities with dropping the federal ICF/MR standard for on-site medical and therapeutic availability. There are 11 states that have no more large facilties, although the only large one is Indiana. However there is only one state that has no ICF/MR funding. The rest have smaller or private ICF/MRs. Massachusetts has blocked licensing or developing any smaller or private facilities that meet the federal standard for ICFs. Many facility residents and their families wouldn’t mind living in clustered or even unclustered group homes if they could get the medical supports of an ICF.
<
p>If Massachusetts succeeds in joining that other state, it will be a radical step. In fact, with Governor Patrick’s approval numbers low, I should mention that the governor of that other state just became available. So if we really want to follow the “progressive” direction in care for Intellectual Disability, let’s start calling it “the Alaska plan.”
Thanks Waltham….I appreciate their support for keeping Fernald (in an acceptable form) for the life-long residents.
<
p>Even though I know this falls into the “for what its worth” category, I’m going to take it as “its worth something”.
<
p>During this long struggle, it has been rare to hear anything that could even remotely be considered positive. So, for the moment, I will take it as a positive.
<
p>
Unlike the vendors, the town officials and residents of Waltham, who have lived and worked side-by-side with Fernald residents…recognize that they are people and that they have value. With all the potential options for this land in front of them, these wonderful people recognize the moral appropriateness of letting the Fernald residents have the “postage stamp” – the village, their home…to meet their physical, emotional and medical needs.
<
p>God bless them. They have restored my faith in at least one small piece of government.
Well said.