Agnews, opened in 1888, is the oldest in a group of “Developmental Centers” in California. These centers, similar to mental hospitals in feel and quality, have been used to house as many as 20,000 developmentally disabled people at a time. Agnews, in fact, was a mental hospital until 1965.

For many years, avoidance of the Developmental Center as a living arrangement was a primary concern for parents planning the future of their kids with special needs. Adults with special needs who had no place else to go often ended up in these locked, confining and dark centers, alone, with no visitors. Clients who had children with special needs in the 1960s tell me stories of being encouraged to turn their children over to Developmental Centers and pretend they never had them.

But the danger is not over. In many states, Developmental Centers continue operations without any slack, sometimes despite media attention on egregious living conditions. In California, four Developmental Centers remain open and house 2,310 residents. The closest Developmental Center to Westlake Village that is still open is Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, which has 504 residents. Progress has been made in the provision of a decent quality of life for people who live in Californian Developmental Centers but most Advocates hope to see them all closed as soon as possible.

If you have a Special Needs Trust with our office, you may recall a brief discussion we had over whether your child’s SNT could ever be used to pay for a Developmental Center. Every single client has always said “no.” So I can confidently say that if you have a SNT with us, it prohibits the Trustee from supporting a Developmental Center placement.

If you want to do something to help, support Mary Omoto’s Sacramento organization, California Disability Community Action Network at 1225 8th Street, Suite 480, Sacramento, CA 95814.

If you want to stay on top of the news about Developmental Centers and other Sacramento-related special-needs updates, subscribe to the CDCAN newsletter by sending an email to martyomoto@rcip.com or visit www.cdcan.com.