Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
 
Board
State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
 
Previous Comment     Next Comment     Back to List of Comments
3/16/18  7:07 pm
Commenter: John Knechtle

Requiring direct care persons to shuffle in and out on hourly shifts turns Group Home into Hospital
 

The proposed change in VA regulations requiring direct care persons to live outside the home, turns a Group Home into a transient place, like a hospital. This fundamentally alters the nature of the Group Home. You no longer have differently abled people sharing life together. You have patients being serviced by outside providers on hourly shifts. If you want to allow certain group homes to operate this way, that may be a recognition that some group homes no longer are able to find live in providers. However to require all Group Homes to be de-personalized in this way, is a major mistake. It creates an institutional atmosphere in the Group Home and destroys the opportunity for the more meaningful relationships that develop when sharing living space. You turn friends and a family environment into providers and an institution. It is a form of re-institutionalization, something we moved away from decades ago. 

CommentID: 63689