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Judge won't hear Western Center parents' petition
Friday, March 31, 2000 By Jan Ackerman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A parents' group was rebuffed yesterday in its continuing effort to stop Western Center from closing.
The group asked a Washington County judge to review the proposed transfers of 48 mentally retarded residents to community-based group homes. But after a short hearing, Common Pleas Judge Thomas Gladden of the Orphan's Court Division refused to rule on a petition asking him to review the status of 40 residents who had been voluntarily committed to Western Center.
He said the petition implicitly asked him to block the closing of Western Center in Canonsburg, which could happen by June 30.
"I do not have the jurisdiction to do that," Gladden said.
Michael Pribanic, an attorney for the parents and guardians of 51 mentally retarded residents of the center, said he wasn't asking the judge to block its closing.
The petition filed by Pribanic and attorney Jesse Torisky asked Gladden to find that the residents' rights were violated under the Pennsylvania Guardianship law.
"We want some court to take a look at these community homes before the rest of the people from Western Center are moved there," Pribanic told reporters after the hearing.
He plans to appeal Gladden's refusal to hear the petition to Commonwealth Court.
Gladden also was asked to hear a petition filed on behalf of eight center residents who were involuntarily committed. Amy Wilson, a lawyer for the state Department of Public Welfare, asked for an opportunity to respond. The judge gave her seven days.
Pribanic said residents of group homes experience "a significantly higher death rate and higher abuse rate" than residents of Western Center.
In 1999, the state auditor general's office conducted a performance audit that found alleged abuse incidents were significantly greater in community homes than in Western Center. The auditor general just completed a more detailed study that has not yet been made public.
Jay Pagni, a spokesman for the state Welfare Department, said his office has received a draft copy of the auditor general's final report and has 30 days to respond. He would not comment on it.
Pribanic and Torisky will file petitions in Allegheny County Orphan's Court Division today on behalf of five residents who were involuntarily committed to Western Center. Next week, they will file petitions in Greene, Fayette and Beaver counties.
Pribanic said the law is clear that persons who were involuntarily committed to Western Center have a right to a hearing before they can be moved.
In 1998, the state decided to close Western Center and move all of its 380 residents to group homes. About two-thirds of the residents have been moved out.
Pagni said Feather Houstoun, secretary of the state Welfare Department, said in her appropriations speech this year that Western Center would be closed by June 30.
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