January 28, 2000		2000-R-0103
SOUTHBURY TRAINING SCHOOL
By: John Kasprak, Senior Attorney

You asked for an update on the status of Southbury Training School.

BACKGROUND

Southbury Training School (STS) was established in the l930s as a home for persons with mental retardation. This state funded and operated facility has 125 buildings on a 1600-acre site. It independently operates its own power, heat, sewage treatment, water, laundry, fire, ambulance, public safety, building maintenance, transportation, and dietary services.

Southbury residents participate in various day programs on and off campus. These include individual and group-supported employment at local businesses, employment at STS-operated ventures, job skills training, sheltered employment, and community experience and leisure programs.

According to the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR), 1700 employees (full time, part time, and consulting staff) provide medical, vocational, residential, and facility support services.

Admissions to STS closed in l986 when 1,111 individuals lived there. Public Act 95-236 directed the DMR commissioner to (1) continue operating Southbury and 2) establish criteria to evaluate the school's population concerning community and training school placements. According to DMR, the goal of STS has been "to provided community placement opportunities for those residents that wish to move and to ensure the best quality of services for residents who choose to remain at the facility."

PA 97-8, June 18 Special Session, (CGS Sec. 17a-218a) prohibits the DMR commissioner from accepting any new admissions at STS.

A new director of STS, Fritz Gorst, was appointed in l999. He replaced co-directors Charles Hamad and George Moore. Previously, Gorst was an assistant facility director for both the Dever and Wrentham Development Centers, Massachusetts. Both facilities are state-operated institutions for individuals with mental retardation.

Many of the decisions and actions undertaken by DMR concerning Southbury over the past 15 years have been the result of litigation. (This is discussed in more detail below.)

CURRENT POPULATION

The current population of STS is 696. The average age of the residents is 54, and the average time a person has resided at the facility is 41 years. Table 1 following shows the number of residents at STS over the past few years.

Table 1: Number of Residents at Southbury Training School

Date	Number of Residents
January, 2000	696
October 1, 1998	734
July 1, 1998	740
July 1, 1997	782

Source: Department of Mental Retardation

At present, 33 residents have requested to leave Southbury. All of them, according to DMR, are in the process of planning to move into the community. The FY l999-2001 state budget includes $2.1 million to provide residential and day support services in the community to 14 of these individuals. (The remaining 19 are part of a budget request.)

LITIGATION

USA v. State of Connecticut

In l984, plaintiffs filed the case of United States of America v. State of Connecticut, which concerned STS. The case involved allegations of civil rights violations based on conditions at the school. It was settled through a consent decree in l986. This case involved only people living at the school. The consent decree required DMR to: (1) assure sufficient staffing to protect and enhance the life of residents; (2) provide periodic, professional evaluation of residents and communication about their care, training and medical needs; (3) create more community-based opportunities for residents; and (4) improve the physical environment of the facility to eliminate fire and safety hazards.

In the fall of l993, federal officials visited Southbury as part of the Justice Department's enforcement of the decree. In l994, the Justice Department sent the state a letter calling Southbury "a very dangerous place." Federal officials concluded that residents were not being adequately cared for and recommended appointment of a special master.

In l995, the Justice Department filed a contempt motion in federal district court in New Haven, and a hearing was held in August of that year. On June l9, l996, Judge Burns ruled that the state was in contempt of the original consent decree and two subsequent court orders regarding STS. She ruled that attempts to satisfy the consent decree had not achieved the desired results and found the state in contempt regarding the provisions on psychological, medical, and physical therapy services. The state appealed Judge Burn's decision, first to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which dismissed it, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear it.

In July 1997, Judge Burns appointed attorney David Ferleger, a specialist in disability law from Philadelphia, as special master. He was charged with finding out why the state's efforts are not producing the intended results and make recommendations to the court.

A remedial plan was signed in April l998 that specified outcomes and criteria to be met as conditions for compliance. The court-assigned special master initiated compliance tours in September 1998. Quarterly reports documenting facility compliance with expectations are sent to the court and the special master. When a requirement has been satisfied for at least one year, active court oversight will cease.

DMR reports that it has been released from active judicial oversight for approximately 50% of the requirements of the remedial plan.

Messier v. Southbury Training School

Another significant case is Messier v. Southbury Training School. In this federal case, originally filed in l994 on behalf of six STS clients, plaintiffs are asking that the school be closed and the residents transferred to alternative community living arrangements. Plaintiffs include former STS residents, the Western Connecticut Association for Human Rights, The Arc/Connecticut, and People First of Connecticut, Inc. Plaintiffs alleged that the care and services offered at Southbury were inadequate to meet the clients' needs and that they suffered from poor care and abuse.

The trial began in U.S. District Court in New Haven (Judge Burns) in January l999 and lasted until October l999. In December l999, both sides agreed to enter into mediation. The agreement came at the urging of the judge. Mediation is scheduled to begin in February, with F. Owen Eagan, a retired U.S. magistrate, presiding. Eagan is expected to impose a time limit on negotiations.

JK:eh