Judge rules that bill to downsize Fircrest was legal
Wednesday, March 3, 2004 7:47 AM PST
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleSEATTLE -- A King County Superior Court judge has ruled that the Legislature did not violate the state constitution last year when it passed a bill calling for the downsizing of the Fircrest school for the developmentally disabled.
Judge Julie A. Spector's ruling on Tuesday gives the Department of Social and Health Services the go-ahead to continue moving residents out of the Shoreline school against the wishes of their families.
Phil Talmadge, a lawyer for Friends of Fircrest, which was among those seeking to halt the downsizing, said the plaintiffs planned to appeal.
"This was an effort to circumvent the open process of the Legislature and to place a policy decision -- that is, the closure of Fircrest -- in a budget bill, which is unconstitutional," Talmadge said after Spector read her decision.
Talmadge called the Legislature's order that DSHS transfer some 56 of Fircrest's 256 residents either to other institutions for the developmentally disabled or to community housing "the most callous, cold-hearted effort on the part of a state agency I've seen in my 25 years in public life."
Kathy Leitch, DSHS's assistant secretary of Aging and Disability Services, said she was pleased with Spector's ruling.
"We felt we were acting under the law, that we were doing what the Legislature told us to do," Leitch said, stressing that the state will work closely with the families and guardians of Fircrest residents to make sure they continue to receive the services they need once they're moved.
As of Tuesday, 17 Fircrest residents had been moved since late last year, most of them to Rainier School in Buckley, one of five state institutions for the developmentally disabled in Washington. The state's five institutions have room for roughly 4,000 residents, but currently house about 1,000 -- each of whom costs about $150,000 per year to care for.
In her ruling, Spector cited a national trend toward housing the developmentally disabled in community settings rather than large institutions.
"The aim has not been to diminish services to the developmentally disabled but to increase the development of independence through an individualized approach to each person, whether placement occurs in a community-based program or in an institutional setting," Spector wrote.
Friends of Fircrest, guardians of three residents, and the Washington Federation of State Employees sued DSHS last December, seeking to lift a 15-year-old admissions freeze and prevent the agency from relocating residents.
Alice Hardman, a retired Fircrest employee who serves as a guardian for two of the school's longtime residents, called the ruling "entirely wrong."
"The clients are doing well there. It's a fine school," Hardman said. "It's an upheaval for our clients to move."
Hardman voiced doubts that any of the state's other facilities will be able to meet the needs of people like Kathy McCay and Randy Getchman, both of whom are profoundly retarded and nonverbal.
Leitch said each of the state's institutions has to meet federal standards and noted that some Fircrest employees have chosen to transfer to the facilities where residents have moved.
Barring a reversal on appeal, another 13 Fircrest residents are scheduled to be moved by the end of March, with 26 more to be transferred by June 2005.
Last June, state lawmakers tucked the measure calling for Fircrest's downsizing into an omnibus spending bill, after a bill to close the school died in the House.
Without comment last week, Spector reversed another King County Superior Court judge's temporary restraining order barring the relocation of nine Fircrest residents.
On Tuesday, Spector rejected plaintiffs' arguments on all grounds, among them the notion that the Legislature violated the constitution's single-subject rule. Spector held that last year's bill calling for Fircrest's downsizing did not deal both with streamlining services and the potential closure of the school.
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