Bellefontaine center getting funds -- for now

ST. LOUIS -- Parents of residents at the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center have seen no indication the residential center for the disabled will remain open long-term, but they said Monday that budget funding to keep the site open another year buys time to continue the fight.

Gov. Matt Blunt has proposed shuttering the center in north St. Louis County, citing potential cost savings and concerns over reported patient abuse at the facility.

Legislative negotiators put $24.5 million in the budget on Friday to keep Bellefontaine open for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That brought some relief to parents who wish to see Bellefontaine remain open, but not a lot.

"It gives us another year to argue the point," said parent Norma Lingle. "I don't think it's a permanent solution."

The Department of Mental Health said it will continue with a five-year plan to gradually move residents out of Bellefontaine into other facilities or community-based services. Blunt is still hoping to close the center sooner than that.

Budget deadline

Legislators must pass the budget by Friday.

While some families agree with Blunt that Bellefontaine should close, others insist that any problems there have been resolved to a point where the center can, and should, remain open.

"There's never been a one-size-fits-all solution for all our disabled people," Lingle said.

Her 55-year-old daughter, Dona, has cerebral palsy and is supervised at a privately run, small community home in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant.

But her 52-year-old autistic son, Michael, lives at the much larger, state-run Bellefontaine center. Both children are in the right kind of setting for them, she said.

Lingle worries that if Michael is moved to a distant location, she won't be able to visit him often, or bring him home for visits.

Her daughter can communicate by gesturing with a board that has words and numbers printed on it. Michael cannot, Lingle said. She said staff at Bellefontaine know how to work with him, and she fears if he goes elsewhere, he won't have a good means to let her know if something is wrong.

Over the decades, families at Bellefontaine worked to change open dorm-style housing --where residents had no privacy or place to put personal belongings -- into smaller cottages. Typically, two residents now share a bedroom.

They worked for additional programs for residents, and a therapeutic pool where special equipment allows residents to swim.

Mickey Slawson, president of the Bellefontaine parents' association, said there have been cases of abuse, but steps have been taken to prevent it. "They've gotten rid of anyone who caused problems," she said.

Her daughter, Carol, 48, is severely retarded and has emotional and behavioral problems, she said. Carol has lived at Bellefontaine for almost 40 years.

Slawson said she will continue to fight to save Bellefontaine and to clear up misconceptions.

"It's very frustrating having to educate the legislators about what Bellefontaine really is about, and about the severely, profoundly mentally retarded," she said.