The lifespan of a bill that could limit the clustering of group homes was shorter than local legislators expected.
After public hearings in both the House and Senate, House Bill 2390 is dead due to lack of support, said Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park. The bill aimed to regulate the location of group homes licensed by the state Department of Social and Health Services.
“This bill is not supported by anyone I can find,” Kagi said. “So I will not move it forward.”
The bill was drafted by Kagi’s staff after concern that a considerable number of group homes, specifically Fodor Homes, LLC, were being licensed in the same neighborhood, on the same street. Fodor Homes has six foster homes in the vicinity of 40th Avenue NE., in Lake Forest Park, and caters to autistic children. The group homes have become a source of controversy because the 29 children who live in them require more expensive special education classes and other services that cost the school district $1.2 million during the past two years.
The bill would have required DSHS to evaluate the concentration of facilities when licensing homes. Currently, the concentration of facilities is not criteria included in an evaluation. Kagi’s bill specified that the state must consider whether the existence of similar facilities at any particular location may adversely impact clients, including the ability of clients to be integrated into the community.
A public hearing in the House on Jan. 18 drew 16 speakers, all of whom opposed the bill, Kagi said. Four parents of children living at Fodor Homes testified that their children are receiving excellent care, she said.
“They provided quite a perspective on the difficulty parents face trying to take care of severely autistic children, especially as they reach adolescence,” Kagi said, “and the value of Fodor Homes.
“They all felt the bill did not have the best interest of their children as its goal. And that was the theme throughout the hearing.”
Many speakers at the hearing worried the bill could make it increasingly difficult to site residential services for children and adults with developmental disabilities and that it may have unintended consequences that may not be beneficial for developmentally disabled individuals, Kagi said.
“I think they appreciated my intent, which is to give DSHS the authority to look at concentration issues when they license services,” Kagi said. “But I think the history of discrimination against developmentally individuals and their ability to choose where they live in the community makes people very leery of any legislation like this.”
After hearing the testimony, Kagi said the bill does not fix the problem she was attempting to address: the financial impact on school districts of serving large numbers of such special-needs students.
Kagi said she will still work to secure funding for the Shoreline School District, which has spent $1.2 million in extra costs to provide special education classes for Fodor Homes students at area schools.
“I will really focus my attention and energy on getting funding for the school district,” Kagi said. “That is the most important issue to the 32nd District.”
Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, testified at the senate public hearing on the bill on Jan. 9, which was referred to the Committee on Health and Long-term Care. Fairley, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said she was the only person who testified in favor of the bill.
About 10 people spoke against the bill, she said, many of whom were misinformed about the operation of Fodor Homes, including whether it functions in some respects as an institution with a central kitchen for the preparation of meals.
Although several neighbors of Fodor Homes have opposed the clustering of group homes, Fairley said none testified at the hearing.
“We are working on solving the school issue,” Fairley said. “That is a separate issue and is a matter of funding.”
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