State to close disabled patient facility in Sonoma County

SONOMA, Calif. (KGO) -- The state has decided to close a Sonoma County facility that cares for hundreds of severely disabled patients.

This is a move that angers the patients families who are wondering where heir loved ones will go.

The center is one of three facilities in the state, which provides care for the severely disabled. Two of the facilities are in the south land. In fact, the state plans to close all three facilities and the families of the residents are angry and plan to fight that decision. "The families are devastated. We are worried because the safety net that's been in place for decades is going away and disappearing," Parents Hospital Association spokesperson Kathleen Miller said.

The safety net is the Sonoma Developmental Center nestled in the hills of Sonoma County. The state-run facility cares for at least 400 residents with severe developmental disabilities that need around-the-clock supervision.

Miller heads the group of family members and advocates of those being treated there. Her autistic son Dan is a patient.

The California Department of Developmental Services now plans to close the sprawling facility in 2018 and move the residents to community board and care homes.

But many families say their fragile loved ones were already in community care before they were moved to the Sonoma center.

Miller's son was kicked out of every one of them. "He's been ejected because of his mental illness. Now they're putting him back in that system with no safety net," she said.

The facility has had a troubled past. Four years ago, a psych tech was caught using a stun gun on severely disabled residents.

The next year, state regulators concluded that patients were repeatedly put at risk of injury, sexual abuse and even death.

The center's own police force was under fire for its lax investigations. But miller says things have improved. "They've hired more staff and put measures into place I think that have made a big improvement," Miller said.

The California Department of Developmental Services says 2018 is not a hard deadline and that it won't close until all residents are transferred out to appropriate community facilities.

The legislature will hold hearings next year on the proposed closure.

Click here for more information on the Sonoma Developmental Center decertification following Taser incidents in 2012.