Virginia entered into a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice that requires it to close four of five state-run centers that help mentally and physically disabled people, including the Central Virginia Training Center located in Amherst County.
Here's a look at the Central Virginia Training Center:
* The facility, located in Madison Heights, employees more than 1,200 workers who provide round-the-clock care for on campus residents. The Center is targeted to close by 2020, according to the News & Advance.
* The 350-acre campus overlooks the James River on the bluffs just opposite Lynchburg. According to its website, the Center provides effective, compassionate services to individuals with intellectual, physical and developmental disabilities, but on campus and in the surround communities.
* The closure comes after a year of negotiations with the federal government after a 2008 lawsuit challenging the state's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The findings were highly critical of the state-run facilities. ABC affiliate WSET reported more than 4,000 waivers will be issued to transfer residents to smaller community-based homes for continued care.
* According to the News & Advance, the Justice Department criticized the state for failure to more rapidly move residents from large centers into smaller community-based homes. If implemented in 2020, more than 1,000 Lynchburg-area residents served at the Center will be moved into smaller community-based facilities that do not currently exist.
* The News & Advance reported total costs to cost the centers and relocate all the residents will top $2 billion, of which $935 million will come from federal sources. State officials predict savings from closed centers will reduce the state's cost to $345 million.
* Delegates Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, and Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, have pledged to work within the General Assembly to block the agreement and challenge the imposition of the Department of Justice's settlement order. Cline told the News & Advance that "it is my hope that the General Assembly will refuse to implement this misguided and harmful agreement."
Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.
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