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The Porterville Recorder

September 18, 2009

Expense of new specialty digs for PDC clients questioned

Cost: $85 million

By: Jenna Chandler

An $85 million expansion to the Porterville Developmental Center is as secure as a state penitentiary, but as plush as the nicest homes in Porterville.

The PDC is home to developmentally disabled clients from across California, but is the state’s only place to treat and house those deemed by a judge as unable to stand trial and reside in a jail. Due to increased demand, a desire to increase safety and meet federal and state standards, the state funded the 96 bed addition to the exceptional secure treatment area set to open doors soon.

“The issue isn’t nicer or less nice,” Daniel Brzovic, an attorney for Disability Rights California, said. “The issue is building a cost effective building that provides public safety.”

The extension sits on 120 acres and includes six 5,000 square feet units with 16 bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a recreational area with a state of the art gym and swimming pool set to Special Olympics specifications.

The entire Secure Treatment Facility is fenced in and equipped with underground motion sensors, and is monitored by authorities watching security cameras so sensitive they can read the license plates on vehicles travelling on Highway 190. Before anyone can enter the secure treatment area they must first pass through a vehicle sallyport.

Once vehicles pass inspection, they are greeted by manicured green lawns and planters (landscaping cost $849,900), and facades covered halfway in stonework ($880,152 total).

The six dormitories are each made up of two halls with eight bedrooms each. Each client will have his or her own living space with a connected bathroom. Throughout each 16-room pod are: fake hard wood floors ($591,000 total); windows that black-out at the flip of a switch ($4,400 each) and floor to ceiling quarry tile in each bathroom ($100,200 total).

All dollar amounts are derived from official documents provided by the Department of General Services, which oversees the state’s capital projects.  

The shatterproof windows, which are more expensive than regular windows, are controlled from within each room, but can be overridden by nurses in their stations. Shades and curtain rods are not necessary, which will help prevent suicides and keep clients from using the materials as weapons.

“We didn’t have them installed because they’re cool and everybody likes to flip the switches,” PDC Executive Director John Sawyer said.

According to a Porterville resident who has seen the structures (who spoke about what he saw under cover of anonymity because of employment concerns), the facilities are nicer than any place “you and I are going to live in, unless we win the lottery.”

“It is a waste of tax payer money,” he said. “The picture is totally wrong.”

Sawyer presented some information about the new facilities to members of Governor’s Advisory Board at its annual regional meeting on Thursday. The board is charged with visiting and advising directors on how the center should operate.

“It was expensive, everybody knows it. There’s been a lot of misconceptions,” he said. “It’s understandable with the state budget, people want to monitor state spending.”

Seven years in the making, the new area will be used as soon as possible. Officials are waiting on federal certifications and staff training to be completed, according to Nancy Lungren, spokeswoman for California’s Department of Developmental Services.

Most of the clients, which currently total 279, are severely mentally disabled, with some having compulsive behaviors and violent tendencies, and somehow have found their way into the criminal justice system, according to Lungren.

Due in part to California’s Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the secured treatment area can not look like a prison, but has to be highly secure, according to Jeffery Young, spokesman for the Department of General Services.

Enacted in 1977, it ensures that people with developmental disabilities have the same rights as any other person, with the right to “treatment and habilitation services and supports in the least restrictive environment.”

During their stay in the secure treatment area, clients undergo behavioral, emotional and social development training. They participate in fitness programs, substance abuse education, interpersonal skills training and money management courses.

Last year 76 secure treatment clients were transitioned into the community.

The state should not go out of its way to make a building ugly or dysfunctional, according to Brzovic.

Both a prison and the PDC are designed to keep the public safe, however, the latter is home to people who have nursing needs, he added.

“You do want a therapeutic environment,” he said.

PDC administrators were very involved in the design of the expansion, according Sawyer.

“We sat down with the architects and went through what we considered critical,” he said.

Critical criteria included the safety and security of nursing staff, clients and the public, Sawyer said.

There are specialty locks, hardened sheet rock in walls and heavily reinforced doors that are expected to withstand excessive slamming.

Even the nuts and bolts are unique. Specialty screws were used with unique heads making them impossible to remove, according to Young.

An additional $5,000 was spent to remove scaffolding from each building and another $8,000 spent on light fixtures for seven gazebos, according to the official documents provided by the Department of General Services.

“There are a lot of features designed to protect the community,” Sawyer said. “A lot of the clients have compulsive behaviors and are at risk of going AWOL.”

Public safety was improved to “satisfy the public,” he said. “Staff has better control over what’s going on with the patients.”

The original secured treatment area structures, which will still be occupied as the expansion fills with residents, was built in 1953 and are reminiscent of college dormitories.

“It’s like having four teenagers in one room at one time,” Sawyer said regarding the original structures.

Also, unlike the original structures, the new facilities comply with American Disabilities Act and dietary standards.

During construction, infrastructure, like sewage and electricity, were built underground to potentially supply another 200 bedrooms as the need arises, according to Young.