• Release ID: 06-017
• Release Date: 2/6/2006
• Contact: Patrick Lacefield 240-777-7939 or Jean Arthur240-777-7934
• From: Council Office

Good afternoon. I am pleased to be co-chairing this joint meeting of the Health & Human Services Committee and Education Committee meeting with my colleague Mike Subin.

We are here to discuss how a provider in our public/private partnership that delivers services to our most vulnerable residents has walked away from its responsibilities to severely disabled young people and their parents.

I’m talking about the Grafton School, which on December 5 sent notice to the parents of 42 young people in its Montgomery County facility that it would close its doors in 60 days. Last Friday, February 3, marked the 60 days.

We invited James Gaynor, executive director of the Winchester, Virginia-based Grafton School to be with us today. He is not here. He should be. He has a lot to answer for.

In 1998, Grafton came to the County offering to expand their operations into Montgomery County. The County was eager to have the capacity in-county to treat the most severely developmentally disabled children and young people, and the parents of these disabled residents wanted their loved ones close at hand.

What did Montgomery County do for Grafton School?

• We supported $1 million worth of state bond bills for them.
• We gave them a $1.5 million interest-free loan to enable them to renovate a closed public school building on Academy Way in Rockville.
• We gave them $1 million in grants.
• The state kicked in another $600,000 in grants.
• We agreed to accept the $8,100 monthly payment on the $1.5 million interest-free loan from Grafton, and its partner the Lourie School, in lieu of rent.
• Even that rent equivalent -- $8,100 – would amount to barely a third of what the Public School system charges other non-profits for similar space.
• And the county stepped in with a 4 percent loan to help Grafton buy four residential properties as well, to house their residents. The state also pitched in with a loan to purchase those properties.

And yet – despite all this county and state support-- Grafton, on its website (www.grafton.org), still boasts of having a Rockville facility 60-plus days after their declaration to close, says it is private, and, I quote – “does not receive money directly from the state” – close quote.

On December 5, with no consultation with the County or warning, Grafton lowered the boom on its students and residents and their families. In 60 days they would close. Although they were cited last October for violations that caused the state to suspend payments for new students at the Rockville school, payments for existing students continued. Grafton could have come to us, its public partner, to share any problems or concerns. It did not.

On January 12, I wrote to Mr. Gaynor to ask him to continue to operate its school and homes until March 10. I wrote, “Many people worked hard to bring the Grafton School to Rockville and the County invested much time and effort to make this a reality. Parents and government officials are hopeful that the continuation of services may be possible.”

The Answer: no.

Let’s think for a minute about the families involved. These families already deal – day in and day out – with the challenges involved with their severely developmentally disabled loved ones. They want quality care. They want continuity of care. A change of scenery – and staff – is not a good thing. Abrupt transitions can mean regression.

Most of us would be thrown into a panic at the news our children’s school, preschool, or child care was closing its doors in 60 days. Think how much worse this is for these families. They don’t have a lot of choices.

When I took a look at Grafton’s website over the weekend. I was particularly interested by the School’s “mission” statement.

Here are a few excerpts:

“Customer Focus—Customer focus is the way we do business. We commit to anticipate and understand the needs of our customers – both internal and external to ensure they are satisfied.

“Integrity—Integrity is our pathway to credibility. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of honesty and ethical behavior.

“Accountability – Accountability is our responsibility. We earn trust by being responsible for all our statements, actions, and results.”

Judging from how they walked away from Montgomery County – and the parents and students that counted on them – I guess talk is cheap – and you really can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

Fortunately for us, our Department of Health and Human Services and the Montgomery County Public Schools have worked to pick up the pieces. Of the 42 students, those who are from Montgomery County have been placed in alternative settings, most in the County. But there are still seven students at Grafton’s Rockville site who are no longer receiving education services because Grafton has surrendered its educational license as of last Friday. These students are not receiving their legally required Individual Education Plan. They still need help.

Grafton dropped the ball. Montgomery County has picked it up and is doing the best we can. But significant damage has been done.

And there’s more. Grafton has made 68 of its 167 monthly payments on the interest-free $1.5 million loan. But Grafton and its partner the Lourie School still owe us $935,000 – a loan for which they are jointly responsible.

Should we let Grafton walk away from services it agreed to provide to the most vulnerable among us when it still owes us nearly a million dollars?

I wanted to review the bidding on this before hearing from our panel for several reasons.
One, although this is a complicated matter, the fault here is simple. It lies with Grafton. No notice. No consultation. No shame. To communities who are doing business with Grafton, or may think of doing so in the future, I say “Let the buyer beware.”

Secondly, I want to thank the folks at Health & Human Services and the School system who raced to pick up the pieces.

Fourth, beyond this individual case, I want to take a hard look at what it’ll take for us to establish stable capacity here for the severely developmentally disabled. I’ve heard that Grafton claims their costs were higher here than in Virginia. I’d like to know more about that. Other providers here offer similar services, get similar reimbursements, and are able to make a go of it.

There is no doubt that the state reimbursement system for the developmentally disabled is a crazy-quilt of forms and red tape that cries out for reform and a unified funding stream.

If our public-private partnership delivering critical services to vulnerable people is going to continue, we must step up our oversight and consult more closely with our partners. We need an “early warning system” and straightforward communication. We can’t afford another Grafton.

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