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By JOE SYLVESTER jsylvester@leader.net
Sunday, February 06, 2000 Page: 3A
WHITE HAVEN – For nearly 30 years, the White Haven Center has been home
for Maureen Jorda.
And her parents, Irene and George Jorda of Shavertown, have been happy
with the care she receives. But they worry their 42-year-old daughter, who is
mentally and physically handicapped, might some day have to leave.
The state has no plans to close the institution, but enrollment has been
declining, primarily because many residents are being placed in group homes,
said Jay Pagni, spokesman for the state Department of Public Welfare.
The state will hold a public hearing on the center’s declining resident
population at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Education Conference Center at Luzerne
County Community College, 33 S. Prospect St., Nanticoke.
Irene Jorda, 71, is concerned that even if the center does not shut down,
the state might try to place her daughter in a group home.
“Maureen is completely helpless,” her mother said. “She’s damaged
mentally and physically. They can’t just put (residents like her daughter) in
a group home unless they have 24-hour care. If they took my Maureen today and
put her in the community, what could she do? She doesn’t even know where she
is.”
Louella Dodson of Hunlock Creek agrees. She refused to allow the state to
move her brother, Ted, out of White Haven. He died at the center a couple of
years ago at age 81.
“He was there for 25 years,” Dodson said. “I wrote a lot of letters.”
She said state Rep. George C. Hasay Jr., R-Shickshinny, helped her.
“He made them (mental health officials) apologize,” she said. “They were
just running me down, trying to get my brother out of there.”
Dodson and Jorda praise the center staff for the care they give to
residents.
Jorda said state officials told her that in 1997 they had a five-year plan
to close all mental-health institutions.
“They have been finding out parents don’t want their children moved,”
Jorda said. “Since we had a voice in it, it’s gone a lot more slowly.”
She said families believe White Haven eventually will close, although the
state has said there are no such plans.
“People get concerned when we hold a hearing,” Pagni said. “There are no
plans to close any state center other than Western Center in Washington
County.”
Pagni said he didn’t know how much enrollment would continue to decline.
That will depend on how many move into group homes.
Those who wish to move out are evaluated to determine if they’re able to
thrive in a group community, the spokesman said, adding enrollments at
mental-health institutions have been declining nationwide. In Pennsylvania in
the mid-1960s, Pagni said, 13,000 residents were living in state centers. Now,
there are only about 2,100.
“Back in the ’50s and ’40s, doctors were telling parents the best place
for a child with mental retardation was in an institution,” Pagni said.
There are 270 residents at White Haven Center, down from the 320 to 325 who
lived there in December 1998. In 1972, 1,200 residents lived at the center.
The staff size about 600.
At the upcoming hearing, individuals or constituency groups will be able to
express their concerns or comment on the declining enrollment. State law
requires the DPW to hold the public hearing because the resident population
has decreased 20 percent or more since Dec. 31, 1997. Hearings also are
required within 30 days of a closure announcement.
Call Sylvester at 829-7219.