Sonoma Developmental Center could close within decade

An influential California budget and policy agency is recommending that the Sonoma Developmental Center be closed within a decade and more than 400 residents moved out of the facility to save the state money and follow trends to care for the disabled in community settings.

The recommendation from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, though not entirely groundbreaking, could carry substantial weight as the office acts as a key advisory body for lawmakers.

For that reason, the recommendation drew swift condemnation from the North Coast’s legislative delegation and the head of the facility’s parents group, who say that many of the alternatives to the Eldridge facility don’t provide equal care.

“You can’t just make it about the money and throw people in the community and, ‘Oh, job over,’?” said Kathleen Miller, president of Sonoma’s Parent Hospital Association. “It’s just an oversimplification of a very complex issue.”

That sentiment was echoed in a letter to the state analyst signed by the North Coast’s two state senators and three Assembly members, as well as Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin, who represents the Sonoma Valley.

“You simply cannot put a dollar figure on the health and well-being of some of the neediest and most medically fragile people in our state,” the letter stated.

Sonoma Developmental Center is home to more than 400 patients, and employs about 1,200, making it Sonoma Valley’s largest employer. Calls to downsize or close the center for budget reasons or because of substandard patient care date back years, if not decades. But when it comes to policymaking, few voices are as influential as the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The office made the recommendation to close the Sonoma center and Fairview Developmental Center in Orange County as part of its review of Gov. Jerry’s Brown’s proposed 2015-16 budget for an array of state human services agencies. Brown is seeking $515 million from the state’s general fund for the state’s three development centers, representing an 8.5 percent funding decrease over the prior fiscal year.

The legislative analyst’s report noted that the 1,100 people who reside in the state’s remaining developmental centers represent less than 1 percent of the state’s total caseload. The average annual cost of treating a patient at a center is $500,000. The federal Medicaid program, which is administered in California through Medi-Cal, covers as much as half of the cost for patients who qualify.

The Sonoma facility also has been wracked by problems ranging from deficient client care to abuse.