Board of Directors

Cathy Enfield
Chair
Independence

Larry Opinsky
Vice-Chair
Chesterfield

Michele Ohmes
Secretary/Treasurer
Kansas City

Patricia A. Flood
St. Louis

Ethel Wesson
Kansas City

Katheryne Staeger-Wilson, MSW, LCSW
Springfield

Sakina Drummond, Ph.D.
Cape Girardeau

Barbara H. French
Beulah

Joe Wrinkle
Independence

Marilyn Lehman
Jefferson City

PAIMI Advisory Council

Barbara French
Chair
Beulah

Mary Crutchfield
Vice-Chair
Moberly

May Holland, MSW
Grandview

Sonya Messenger
Willard

MISSOURI PROTECTION & ADVOCACY SERVICES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Policy Statement on the Future of Missouri's Habilitation Centers
and Community-Based Support for
Persons with Developmental Disabilities

Approved by the Board of Directors on March 11, 2005

The Board of Directors for Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services is committed to supporting policies and programs in the State of Missouri that will help individuals with disabilities lead lives of dignity, opportunity, safety, and inclusion in their families, neighborhoods, and communities. We believe that both the weight of available research and the practical experience of other states demonstrate that such policies and programs can only be achieved by supporting individuals in community-based settings.

Our policy statement has two equally important parts. First, it is our position that the State of Missouri should eliminate its reliance on large, segregated, institutional settings (the habilitation centers) as part of its system of residential support for individuals with developmental disabilities. We believe that there are no persuasive arguments for continued use of such facilities. The movement of current residents from the habilitation centers to small community-based programs should be done with care, planning, and the involvement of the individuals themselves, as well as their families and advocates. New admissions should be eliminated or reduced to temporary emergency placements.

The second part of our position is that the State of Missouri should improve both the capacity and the quality of the community-based residential support programs through increased support to agencies providing such programs and through improved opportunities for flexible self-direction by individuals and/or family members. The system developed must also provide oversight and ongoing quality assurance in community-based programs. Appropriately designed and funded, such programs can provide even the most intensive levels of support and care for individuals, while also fulfilling the commitment of dignity, opportunity, safety, and inclusion.