Greene Valley Closure Delayed, Will Still Comply With Deadline

The scheduled closure of the Greene Valley Developmental Center Friday didn't happen as anticipated.

Cara Kumari, communications director for the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, said the delay was a consequence of the weather in Chattanooga, which pushed back construction of group homes needed to transition the last remaining GVDC residents.

"Weather delayed some of the final construction in the Chattanooga area and pushed back our final transitions by about a week," Kumari said in an emailed statement. "We do expect to close by May 30, 2017."

That will put the closure a month ahead of a court-enforced June 30, 2017, deadline. The facility was originally due to close on June 30, 2016, to comply with a court-accepted plan to exit a more than 20-year-old lawsuit.

The plan included provisions for two six-month extensions, meaning the center could remain open through June 30, 2017, while still complying with the agreement. In September 2016, DIDD officials confirmed the state's intention to exercise the second six-month extension, citing delays in construction of new community homes for current Greene Valley residents.

In spite of the latest delay, State Rep. David Hawk said the progress made toward the closure is a testament to the dedication of the staff.

"Greene Valley employees have been exceptionally efficient and (are achieving) the closure of the state facility three times more quickly than two other facilities in Tennessee achieved closure," he said.

Kumari said that there are nine residents still at the facility and Friday was the last day for approximately 200 employees. An additional 54 employees will remain at Greene Valley to continue operations until the final transitions occur.

The closure caused much debate since it was initially proposed, with strong feelings on both sides of the issue. In comments made Friday, two government officials reiterated their stance against the closure.

"By (the decision to close) it, we took people from what may be the only home they've ever known, from caretakers that they've known and who know them, and placed individuals at greater risk," said Greene County Mayor David Crum.

He added: "I don't want to say anything negative about the people that will be working in the homes. I just think you've taken people that have extensive medical histories away from individuals that know that history, know the nuances of their condition and provide an excellent, high quality of care."

Hawk predicts the state will find itself going back to the same model of care that it's shutting down at Greene Valley.

"I think that the closure of Greene Valley Developmental Center is a bad decision," he said. "In the next decade, folks with the most serious intellectual and developmental disabilities are going to be underserved, especially those with extreme medical needs. I have a feeling that ? the State of Tennessee is going to have to look at re-creating what Greene Valley has done for many years, in order to better serve the most fragile of Tennessee's population."

He added, "The private sector does a very good job of caring for our less medically fragile Tennesseans, but there is going to continue to be a segment of the population that is going to need the state department to provide long-term care."

Kumari said that many of the residents who have transitioned to homes in Greene County are still being cared for by staff that worked at Greene Valley and that all the homes are intermediate care facilities that provide the same level of care as Greene Valley.

"These homes are required to follow the same federal standards of care as GVDC," she said. "The difference is that in the new homes, people can live and participate in their communities. They all have their own rooms. Many people who have transitioned live much closer to their families."

Closure of Greene Valley Developmental Center remains the only still-to-be-completed provision of an agreement allowing DIDD to resolve a federal lawsuit.

The suit was brought by People First of Tennessee and the U.S. Department of Justice in 1995, over conditions at Clover Bottom Developmental Center, Greene Valley and Nat T. Winston Developmental Center.

Nat T. Winston shut its doors in 1998. Clover Bottom was closed in late 2015.

In January 2016, a federal judge issued an order vacating injunctive relief and partially dismissing the long-standing lawsuit following an exit plan entered by the U.S. district court in January 2015.

The plan, which included nine sections of obligations for DIDD and the Bureau of TennCare, called for the case to be dismissed after two phases - all eight sections of responsibilities in one phase followed by a second phase overseeing closure of Greene Valley.

Earlier this year, a former Greene Valley employee pleaded guilty to attempted assault in connection with an abuse claim dating back to 2014 after the District Attorney General's office requested two prior abuse cases at the facility be reinvestigated by the Greene County Sheriff's Department.