Mom, Home: Action Alert for NJ Bill A3625

A three-part series of articles in the Post-Star describes the lives of autistic children and their families in upstate New York. The January 27th article is about residential placements for adults on the autism spectrum and also, in one case, for a 12 year old. Joey Hunsinger has been living at St. Colman's, a residential school in Watervliet, ever since.

Joey lives at St. Colman's the majority of the time but comes home to Queensbury about every other weekend and for all major holiday breaks.

"As tough as it was to make that decision, I knew it was the most selfless thing I could do to send him there," Hunsinger said. "I'll never be 100 percent accustomed to him not being with me every day. Even though it was the right thing, and he's adjusted, you're not supposed to send your 12-year-old away."

Hunsinger struggled most with the decision when Joey would utter, "No St. Colmans, Mom. Home."

I really don't know how I would take hearing my son say those words. We need to focus on community services and create supports and residences for individuals with disabilities in the community, so that institutions and segregated placements are not seen as "options."

NJ De-Institutionalization Bill A3625 was introduced earlier this month; it's a call to close five of New Jersey's seven state developmental centers within five years and use funds now spent on them for community housing instead. This is the bill text and you can go here to this action alert, to send a letter supporting A3625 directly to NJ state legislators (unfortunately, only New Jersey residents can send this letter).  Needless to say, A3625 strikes very close to home for me----let's work to keep our loved ones in the community and home, with us, among us.

A3265 was sponsored by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, who speaks in this video.