2 months ago
The Community Service Board of Middle Georgia said Wednesday that it's closing three of its facilities in Pulaski, Wilcox and Johnson counties. The centers provide services to people with developmental disabilities.
Don Sanders says his daughter Geneva, also known as G.G., attends the day program at the Pulaski County Community Mental Health Center in Hawkinsville. Now, G.G. must move to another center.
"We want her to stay right here, as close as we can keep her to home," Sanders said.
Sanders says G.G. is 35 years old, suffers from mild cerebral palsy, and is severely mentally handicapped.
"She may be taken out of her comfort zone, and when she's out of her comfort zone, we're out of our comfort zone," Sanders said.
About a dozen parents and supporters of people with developmental disabilities attended a meeting Wednesday at the Hawkinsville center. Kathy Moses, Director of Developmental Disabilities for the Community Service Board of Middle Georgia, told the group the office will be vacated by the end of October, and they will begin busing those who receive their services 11 miles away, to a facility in Cochran.
According to Moses, the Community Service Board of Middle Georgia faces a budget deficit of more than $1 million. She says the decision to close the Hawkinsville center was made out of financial need.
"I can tell you that our state funds have been drastically cut," Moses said.
Though she did not have an exact figure, Moses said state and Medicaid funding cuts account for the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Community Service Board.
Cutting the three centers will save the board approximately $100,000.
But some parents and supporters who attended the meeting say they are disappointed in how the board handled the decision and notified families.
"We're just concerned that this happened all of the sudden and nobody has given us much warning, " Sanders said.
Parents say they received a letter from the Hawkinsville center that was sent home with their children some time between Friday and Monday. The letter does not mention that the center is shutting down completely. Still, parents and supporters says they are most concerned about how their loved ones will handle the changes.
"If you don't have one, you have no clue of what we have done to protect and care for our children," parent Julia Meadows said. Meadows is G.G.'s mother.
The Community Service Board of Middle Georgia says it will start moving services to its Cochran center on October 13.
