Settlement reached in Portage Manor lawsuit. Home would still close July 31.

SOUTH BEND — A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that aimed to halt the closure of Portage Manor.

The county home for people with mental illness and disabilities will indeed close by Monday, July 31. But the families of four residents who'd filed a lawsuit will end up with payments from the county to help with the residents’ transition to their next homes.

This came after the county offered a settlement deal on Monday night, followed by hours of negotiations in federal court on Tuesday.

Read the lawsuit: Individual and class action lawsuit filed to prevent the closing of Portage Manor

The home had just eight residents Tuesday, down from 105 in February when county commissioners first announced they’d close the home.

Shaw Friedman, a co-attorney for the plaintiffs, said the settlement avoids the difficulties that they’d expected in the hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Both sides were prepared to bring evidence. A local psychiatrist and psychologist were ready to testify and advocate for the residents.

But Roy Saenz, whose uncle, David, lives at the home, said for the community, “Losing Portage Manor is pretty devastating.”

An advocate from the start, Saenz was hoping to preserve the century-old home’s 144 beds as a necessary local resource and a “role model” for providing a stable home for adults with disabilities.

U.S. District Court Judge Damon Leichty and county commissioners will need to approve the settlement, but, as the judge praised negotiations, that appears likely.

Families to make quick decisions

As the court adjourned, Saenz and the other family members had quick, life-changing decisions to make.

Craig Coburn-McDonald had to decide within 24 hours if he would move his sister, Melissa, into his home. If he did, the county would pay him $50,000 for moving and home health care, per the settlement. But Coburn-McDonald said that, if he did that, he’d have to quit his job as purchasing manager for Allied Physicians in South Bend.

“I’ve got to talk with Melissa; she wants to stay close,” he said, noting how she calls for his assistance on a regular basis. “I’m not set up for taking her in my home.”

Their other option is to move her to a residential facility in Fort Wayne where apparently 30 other Portage Manor residents just recently moved. It’s known as Grand Marquis, or Noble Senior Living. If they choose that, the county would pay $25,000 to help with travel and related expenses. In either case, the county would help with moving expenses, too.

Laura McLellan, who grew up in Mishawaka but lives in Ohio, would get $25,000 from the county to help with travel and related expenses, plus the cost of moving her brother. She was still weighing options of where to move him Tuesday, including one facility in Michigan City.

Julie Calhoun would also get $25,000 from the county for travel and other expenses for her brother, Randy, who she recently moved to a Byron Wellness Systems facility in Fort Wayne.

Saenz would get $60,000 to help pay for his uncle to stay six to 10 months at a home or facility, all on private pay, while Saenz’s family seeks a new, long-term home for him. They're still wading through the process, but Saenz said they’re hoping to secure federal Veterans Administration benefits to help pay for his uncle’s long-term home. Recently, Congressman Rudy Yakym’s office has been helping to expedite the VA benefits.

Per the agreement, the county would only pay the money if those four residents moved out by July 31. Friedman pointed out that the settlement also requires the county to provide regular updates on the move-out progress for the other residents.

Logan folks needed more time

Logan Community Resources originally had five wards living at Portage Manor, all with intellectual disabilities. Now, two of them remain in the home, said Matt Costello, the nonprofit agency’s protective services director.

Of those who moved out, Costello said one woman moved into local adult foster care, where she is happy and relieved of the uncertainties of the past months, though she awaits state funding to catch up to her. One man moved into a local assisted living facility and was still trying to adjust. A third person moved to a Byron Wellness Systems facility in Fort Wayne, where the man’s sister lives, Costello said.

Of the Logan wards still at the home, Costello said, one man will move into a local apartment with two other men in a supported living environment, where an outside service provider visits to help the residents. The other person, a woman, will have to move out of town, likely to Fort Wayne, because there isn’t enough time now to seek a local placement.

Costello showed an unsigned letter from the county threatening to report Costello to Adult Protective Services if the county’s suggested placements weren’t accepted by July 31.

Costello, who regularly works with APS, has remained focused on having enough time to find placements that are most appropriate for his wards, adding, “They (the county) would get good placements if they’d give us enough time.”

After the court session adjourned, Costello reiterated that he wished the deadline would have been extended.

30 moved to Fort Wayne site

Jenny Piontek, a local advocate for residents and the Save Portage Manor effort, said Tuesday that 30 residents have moved into Grand Marquis in downtown Fort Wayne. It was among three such facilities with dozens of open beds that also accepted reimbursements from the state’s Residential Care Assistance Program, for which about 40 Portage Manor residents qualified.

June 30, 2023: Shooting of resident at Gary home just before Portage Manor folks move in

Unlike two such facilities in Lake County — including Miller Beach Terrace in Gary, where a shooting happened just days before three residents moved there — Piontek liked this one. She said it appeared the residents did, too, although she said two of them struggled with the adjustment. The residents were kept together on the same three floors of the downtown high-rise, hopeful that they’d keep a sense of community. They liked the food, too.

The downside, she noted, is that the Fort Wayne site places many of the residents further from relatives — one of the driving concerns about Portage Manor’s closure from the start.

Resolving the lawsuit

The lawsuit was originally filed on behalf of the four residents as well as the other Portage Manor residents. Friedman said he and co-attorney Kent Hull had sought class-action status for the lawsuit, but, as of Tuesday, the courts hadn’t certified it as such.

Carl Baxmeyer, president of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners; Mark Root, president of the St. Joseph County Council; and St. Joseph County were among the defendants who were named in the suit.

They weren’t in the courtroom but were represented by the commissioners’ attorney, Mike Misch. Portage Manor’s administrator, although not personally a defendant, was also there.

The suit alleged that “a consequence of the closing of Portage Manor is that Plaintiffs and the class will be moved to segregated institutions, with uncertain capacity and qualifications to care for Plaintiffs and the class, resulting in threats to the health and wellbeing of Plaintiffs and the class.”

The lawsuit alleged that the closing of Portage Manor violates provisions of the following: the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act, the U.S. and Indiana constitutions; and Indiana common law.

Friedman said he appreciated the county’s “good faith effort” to reach a settlement in a difficult situation.

Saenz, feeling that the community lost, alluded to the political debates over the past half year in county commissioners and council meetings over the decision to close. Advocates and many Democrats had argued the county was capable of making the home’s needed repairs and keeping it open.

Because the lawsuit didn’t stop the closure, Saenz said, “A change in political direction is the only thing that could help.”

South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Portage Manor lawsuit settlement pursued in federal court