BOONEVILLE -- Consultants told Arkansas legislators Monday that many states have closed public institutions for developmentally disabled adults and children because of lawsuits, court orders, tight budgets and poor quality of life.
Two parents, however, described Arkansas' institutions, called human development centers, as places that kept their children safe when nothing else could.
"This place has been a lifesaver," said Missy Overton of Benton, whose adult daughter lives at the Booneville center.
"This is the first place we've been to that she's not crying, 'Mama, take me home!'"
Four legislators, part of a subcommittee of the Health Reform Legislative Task Force, toured and met Monday at Booneville's Human Development Center, which houses 124 full-time residents.
The other state-run centers are at Arkadelphia, Conway, Jonesboro and Warren.
The subcommittee is tasked with making recommendations this year for any changes to the centers.
They have talked about spending more money to upgrade current facilities, including tearing down dilapidated, unused buildings at the Booneville center.
The subcommittee also has heard options other states have pursued, such as shutting down the state institutions and sending clients to community-based programs, or turning over the centers' operations to private companies.
Disability Rights Arkansas, an advocacy group with authority to investigate treatment of people with disabilities, has issued critical reports of the Booneville Human Behavior Center. Among the criticisms: excessive use of physical and medical restraints and a faulty treatment plan that contributed to the 2015 death of a choking resident.
Officials have promised more training in the use of restraints and have shut down a "safe room" that was used to control bad behavior.
Consultants from The Stephen Group of Manchester, N.H., told legislators Monday they haven't seen the abuses in Arkansas Human Behavior Centers that they've seen in states that have shut down their facilities.
"The unique thing we see in Arkansas, you don't find the types of abuses in institutional settings you see in other states," consultant John Stephen said. "The quality of care we see here is very good."
The 1,000-acre Booneville Human Development Center originally housed a state tuberculosis sanitarium that opened in 1910 and served as many as 1,000 patients, according to Vanessa Wyrick, the center's assistant superintendent.
Now 323 employees work with developmentally disabled residents or maintain buildings and property.
Cost to operate the Booneville center totaled $17.7 million in fiscal 2015, according to the consultant's report.
Legislators, state Division of Developmental Disabilities officials and visitors saw residential areas and work spaces where clients dye yarn and weave rugs.
"I've been over here many times," Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, said of the Booneville facility.
"I'm always impressed with the interaction between the staff and the clients. I agree we have a moral obligation to perform the best service we can."
Subcommittee co-Chairman Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, said legislators "are not here to promote any hidden agenda. Members here today want to hear everything there is to hear about the human development centers."
The subcommittee is "getting close to trying to articulate some recommendation to the task force," said Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, another co-chairman. "These human development centers are a direct state responsibility."
"It is a shame if we do not provide the funding needed to provide facility needs," Rapert said.
The Health Reform Legislative Task Force was formed last year to formulate changes to the state's private option that covers low-income adults and other portions of the state's Medicaid program.
Metro on 08/16/2016