web1_TTL091319CarWash.jpg

Car wash coming to Wilkes-Barre Blvd. site

web1_Field-hockey-sticks.jpg

Forgash and Wyoming Valley West remain unbeaten in WVC field hockey play

<p>WHITE HAVEN &#8212; Is the closure of White Haven State Center a done deal?</p><p>One state official told a parish hall packed with staff and relatives of center residents Thursday evening that it is.</p><p>Another took the floor with news that state lawmakers aren&#8217;t ready to accept that answer.</p><p>State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, came to the podium during a formal public hearing at St. Patrick&#8217;s Parish Center to read out testimony on behalf of himself and Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, in opposition to the closure, which was announced by the state Department of Human Services last month.</p><p>Before he did, however, Yudichak announced to the room that there will be a Sept. 24 hearing before the Senate Health and Human Services committee in Harrisburg on the administration&#8217;s decision to close White Haven and the Polk State Center in Venango County.</p><p>The centers serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities &#8212; 112 in the case of White Haven, many of whom have lived there for decades. The state&#8217;s plan calls for White Haven to close in three years.</p><p>&#8220;This will bring in DHS to answer some pointed questions,&#8221; Yudichak said to the Times Leader regarding the planned Senate hearing. &#8220;This isn&#8217;t about dollars and cents. This is about a political decision to move away from facilities like White Haven Center.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re hearing from families who say this is the best care,&#8221; Yudichak added, saying he believes officials in Harrisburg also need to hear that message from families.</p><p>Thursday&#8217;s hearing in White Haven, meanwhile, was convened by DHS officials to take testimony from the public on closure plans.</p><p>&#8220;While our decision to close White Haven State Center is a final decision, tonight we do want to hear about your thoughts about that transition process,&#8221; Deputy DHS Secretary Kristin Ahrens told the audience before the public comments began.</p><p>State Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski, Gerald Mullery and Tarah Toohil also were in attendance. Their views will be part of upcoming Times Leader reporting on this issue.</p><p><strong>Passionate testimony</strong></p><p>Speaker after passionate speaker told Ahrens exactly what they thought.</p><p>Not everyone who spoke opposed the closure.</p><p>One man, Robert Zotynia, 32, used his electronic speaking device to describe how life has been better for him living at home with his mother, Pamela Zotynia.</p><p>Zotynia spoke about how he volunteers, votes, runs errands and relies on support staff who assist him.</p><p>&#8220;I want to live in my own home when she is gone,&#8221; Zotnyia said of his mother, adding that his staff has been working with him to make sure he can do so.</p><p>Still others, including Arc of Pennsylvania Executive Director Sherri Landis, spoke about why they believe community-based services will be better for people with disabilities than the remaining state centers, which she called &#8220;outdated.&#8221;</p><p>Landis, among several who defended the closure, was roundly booed by the audience despite admonitions from a DHS moderator.</p><p>The prevailing feeling in the room was clear: Keep White Haven open. Relatives and staff members wore green T-shirts in support of &#8220;WHC,&#8221; and many carried posters and cards bearing the initials of their loved ones who reside at the center. Still others maintained a demonstration outside on Church Street, waving posters to motorists.</p><p>Susan Jennings told the audience she is the mother of a severely autistic son named Joey.</p><p>&#8220;He was in and out of six different group homes. They could not manage his difficult and challenging behaviors under the community service system,&#8221; Jennings said, going on to describe the health effects Joey suffered from overmedication, as well as how he was sent to psychiatric wards &#8212; one where he &#8220;languished for six months, not because he needed to be there but because nobody had a place for him.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The community has failed my son over and over again,&#8221; Jennings said. &#8220;He was saved by White Haven Center.&#8221;</p><p>Another woman, Candy McAndrew, described how she had a unique perspective on the situation.</p><p>&#8220;I had two brothers at White Haven Center. I also work in a group home facility,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The plan for community living has been implemented for almost three decades. It is not the utopia that it is being sold as.&#8221;</p><p>McAndrew said her brother Joseph has been at White Haven for 50 years, while her brother John was moved out in 2002.</p><p>&#8220;John actually moved into a more restrictive situation. He had less freedom. He was able to roam the grounds here and now he&#8217;s in a house on the highway with a door alarm,&#8221; McAndrew said, adding that his health and emotions have suffered after leaving White Haven.</p><p>She predicted that similarly it would be difficult to provide the range of necessary health care services to residents in the community that they now receive at White Haven.</p><p>While DHS officials made it clear at the outset that Thursday was not a time to answer questions, Ahrens told the audience before testimony began that &#8220;no resident will leave this center without a destination of their choosing &#8230; and without fully developing a plan to meet all of their physical, emotional, medical and behavioral support needs.&#8221;</p><p>Ahrens also said staff affected by the closure &#8220;will be counseled regularly on other opportunities for state employment.&#8221;</p><p>Employees have been rallying against the closure, and plan to do so again in Harrisburg on the day of the state Senate hearing.</p><p>Maria Ferrey, from Weatherly, is a caseworker who has been at White Haven for 15 years.</p><p>&#8220;If they close this place it means that my family loses their home,&#8221; a tearful Ferrey said during an interview with the Times Leader.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m staying here until the end and we are fighting,&#8221; Ferrey said, adding that at the very least she hopes an extension beyond three years may be possible.</p><p>She&#8217;s concerned about her family, but also about the residents and their families who will be affected.</p><p>&#8220;The average amount of time for people living in state centers is 47 years,&#8221; Ferrey said. &#8220;There&#8217;s such a thing called transfer trauma. It&#8217;s devastating. The people in my caseload are severely disabled physically and intellectually, and they just don&#8217;t understand.&#8221;</p><p>For video from Thursday&#8217;s hearing by staff photographer Aimee Dilger, see <a href="https://youtu.be/9v8Nl4MNA5s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://youtu.be/9v8Nl4MNA5s</a>.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven2-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Family members of White Haven State Center residents line Church Street in the borough Thursday evening to rally against the state&#8217;s plans to close of the facility. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven2-7.jpg</photo0><caption0>Family members of White Haven State Center residents line Church Street in the borough Thursday evening to rally against the state&#8217;s plans to close of the facility. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven3-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Robert Zotynia, with the help of his family, uses a computer to testify in favor of community living during a public hearing on plans to close the White Haven State Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven3-7.jpg</photo1><caption1>Robert Zotynia, with the help of his family, uses a computer to testify in favor of community living during a public hearing on plans to close the White Haven State Center. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven4-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Family and friends of the 112 residents at the White Haven State Center hold initials of those patients at a packed hearing to address the announcement last month that state officials will close the facility within three years. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven4-7.jpg</photo2><caption2>Family and friends of the 112 residents at the White Haven State Center hold initials of those patients at a packed hearing to address the announcement last month that state officials will close the facility within three years. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven5-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ann Winsock holds photos of family members, including sister Janine Winsock, who has lived at the White Haven State Center for over 40 years. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven5-7.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ann Winsock holds photos of family members, including sister Janine Winsock, who has lived at the White Haven State Center for over 40 years. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven6-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Family and friends of the White Haven State Center&#8217;s 112 resudents hold up initials of those patients during Thursday&#8217;s hearing. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven6-7.jpg</photo4><caption4>Family and friends of the White Haven State Center&#8217;s 112 resudents hold up initials of those patients during Thursday&#8217;s hearing. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven1-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rosemary Oliver holds a photo of her son Tony Truskowski on Thursday during a public hearing at St. Patrick&#8217;s Parish Center on the closing of White Haven State Center, where her son resides. Oliver said her son would not be able to live in a community living setting because of his severe medical disabilities. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091419white-haven1-7.jpg</photo5><caption5>Rosemary Oliver holds a photo of her son Tony Truskowski on Thursday during a public hearing at St. Patrick&#8217;s Parish Center on the closing of White Haven State Center, where her son resides. Oliver said her son would not be able to live in a community living setting because of his severe medical disabilities. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Families, staff denounce White Haven Center closure; Yudichak announces Harrisburg hearing </subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

web1_TTL091419white-haven1.jpg

web1_TTL091419white-haven2.jpg

web1_TTL091419white-haven3.jpg

web1_TTL091419white-haven4.jpg

web1_TTL091419white-haven5.jpg

web1_TTL091419white-haven6.jpg

Families, staff denounce White Haven Center closure; Yudichak announces Harrisburg hearing