BY K.P. SANDER
(Photo Courtesy: DDS)
Pomona – In January of 2010, the Department of Development Services (DDS) announced its intention to close the Lanterman Development Center (LDC), located in the City of Pomona on the borders of Diamond Bar and Walnut. The path toward closure has been a long and complex one.
The LDC, which occupies a little over 300 acres in Los Angeles County, has been providing 24/7 residential care for individuals with severe developmental disabilities for 87 years.
LDC opened its doors in 1927 with an acute hospital unit, nine client residences, a variety of training and work sites, recreational facilities, and staff amenities, and initially served over 3,000 residents.
According to their website, the mission of the LDC has always been to provide the highest quality services and supports to people with developmental disabilities who require concentrated health care and/or training to develop skills in which to enhance their independence – developing people’s highest potentials.
Once home to a multitude of individuals with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Down’s syndrome, autism, and other lifelong severe mental conditions, the LDC strived to provide the utmost in care according to the laws and standards of the State of California. Their core values reflected SPIRIT: Service, Professional Commitment, Initiative and Creativity, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork.
In 2009, the LDC had 440 residents, with approximately 12 admissions and 27 discharges per year. With more than 1,200 staff to oversee the care of individuals throughout the 192 onsite buildings, they facilitated around-the-clock care with an annual budget of nearly $116 million.
With the closure of LDC rapidly approaching, all this has quietly come to an end. In January 2010, there were less than 400 to care for, and as of Sept. 24, only 22 residents remain at the facility. Staff has been redeployed, laid off, or left through natural attrition.
The DDS has maintained that the well-being of all who live and work at Lanterman to be of the utmost concern and priority, and put procedures in place to ensure a safe and successful transition for residents from LDC.
In their summer newsletter regarding the status of the closure, the DDS reports that 322 residents of the LDC have been transitioned to the community; 85 homes for individuals moving from the LDC have been licensed in accordance with Senate Bill 856; and 47 former residents have moved into Adult Residential Facilities for Persons with Special Health Care Needs.
The DDS has made mention of the dwindling population and the condition of the aging infrastructure as contributing factors, and the impending closure leads to speculation of what will become of those 300 acres.
The LDC is scheduled to close on Dec. 31, 2014.
