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Parents and Associates of Northern Virginia Training Center is a 501(c)3 organization. Our organization consists of parents and other interested persons whose goal is to promote the welfare and development of all citizens with mental retardation.

Families Unite to Save Virginia's Training Centers

BREAKING NEWS! (May 9, 2012)
MOTION TO INTERVENE GRANTED!!
click here for details.

The Future of Virginia’s Training Centers is in the Hands of the Virginia Legislature, Not the Court’s (3/12/2012)

THIS IS A MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE PEGGY FOX (WUSA CHANNEL 9, WASHINGTON DC) MARCH 14, STORY ON THE PROPOSED CLOSURE OF VIRGINIA'S TRAINING CENTERS. CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

As many of you already know, the Virginia Department of Behavior Health and Disability Services (DBHDS), along with the Virginia Governor, his Secretary of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Justice have filed a case in Federal District Court that includes the closure of 4 of Virginia's 5 Training Centers.

Families and legal guardians, on behalf of residents from each of the five Virginia Training Centers, filed a motion to intervene as parties in the action so they have a legal voice in the outcome of the case. A second, separate motion seeks to dismiss the case, arguing that DOJ did not have standing to bring suit.
“The families’ voice should matter most, yet neither the Justice Department nor the Commonwealth sought our input with regard to the specific terms of the agreement,” said Peter Kinzler, whose son is a resident at Northern Virginia Training Center. “The parties will tell you that they talked to parents. Meeting with us to tell us what will happen is not the same as negotiating about the wellbeing of our family members with profound needs. Intervention, if granted, would put us on equal footing with the DOJ and Virginia, which have very different interests, and allow us to be in charge of our family members’ futures, as it should be.”
In their argument to the court, the families maintain their family members have a right to be parties in this action because the proposed settlement directly impacts legally-protected rights. “If the settlement agreement were to be approved, the Proposed Intervenors would be transferred or discharged from the training centers without regard for the rights afforded them by the ADA, the decision in Olmstead v. L.C., and other relevant law,” states the Motion for Intervention.
“The Justice Department and State officials have overlooked the personal choice of the residents who would be moved from the training centers, which is an Olmstead requirement,” said Kinzler. “We’re optimistic that the federal court will agree that families have an important voice and deserve to be involved as parties and not sideline observers.”

 

Contact your State Delegate and Senator. Let them know this is a travesty. Contrary to what the McDonnell administration is saying, this is not a "done deal." The future of the Training Centers is in the hands of the General Assembly. Encourage Legislatiors to not fund a system they, and those most impacted, had no voice in creating. If you don't know who your Virginia legislator is: click here.

PLEASE mail a contribution (or click the "Donate" button on this page) to help save training centers as an element in the system of care continuum. Checks should be made payable to "Parents & Associates, NVTC" and mailed to:
    Parents & Associates, NVTC
    C/o Ed Senft, Treasurer
    19375 Cypress Ridge Terrace, # 610
    Lansdowne VA 20176

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