Standing Up for High Meadows' Families
Preserving Vital Services for Special Needs Youth
P-3B Council Members Barbara Aichelman and Barbara Poplowski Prepare to Picket Outside the Facility to "Bring the Boys Home" Now that the Attorney General has Ruled Against Governor Rell's Scheme
Governor Rell has called for closing High Meadows, a residential facility that serves boys with conduct disorders, social and emotional behavior problems, medical issues, and intellectual disabilities. When we found the proposal buried in her 2010 – 2011 budget, our SEIU State Council began mobilizing members working at the facility to speak out.
High Meadows only accepts referrals that have been rejected by other facilities, by both in and out of-state facilities. Admission criteria include having medical and psychiatric needs beyond what private residential facilities will accept. We believe it is unfair -- and immoral -- to try to balance the budget by taking away vital services for people who have nowhere else to turn.
The Governor has proposed is taking away quality services from some of Connecticut's most vulnerable. This is wrong. It is also shortsighted public policy, and will cost our society more in the long run because these troubled young men will have nowhere to turn for help.
That is why we have invited Governor Rell to attend a "Family Night" in order to meet staff and families of the boys for whom High Meadows' doctors, social workers, therapists, and teachers aren't their de facto families. At the same time, we are reaching out to parents of children at the facility to share their stories with the press, and help us create the public pressure needed to prevent these important services from being cut.
And when Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner Susan Hamilton notified the staff the facility would be closed within a matter of months, we ramped-up efforts to deliver our message. Parents and legislators joined us in July for a press conference to make sure the news media let Connecticut know that we are in this together to "Save High Meadows' Boys."
Now that the agency has formally requested a "certificate of need" to
terminate services for the youth the facility serves, members of our
Union and District 1199/SEIU are mobilizing parents, advocates, and
lawmakers to stand-up and oppose this short-sighted move.
Blog entry on news of the Attorney General's opinion and the hearing on DCF's closure attempt
Blog entry on the petition to intervene on behalf of the boys to block DCF's closure
Blog entry on our efforts to mobilize community support for High Meadows' boys
Blog entry on our response to the DCF Commissioner's July 28 closure memo
Photos of members, parents, and legislators at the "Save High Meadows' Boys" press conference
New Haven Register article on members' efforts to raise awareness of specialized services
WFSB-TV news segment on a High Meadows client and his family
Invitation letter to Governor Rell to attend High Meadows "Family Night"
WFSB-TV news segment on members speaking out against closing High Meadows
Fact Sheet: High Meadows Residential Treatment Center
