Three. There are problems there with the handicapped. Most of the problems we have is from the staff. Since we have been there -- well, prior to them moving there, they came in and renovated the house. Nobody in the neighborhood knew that they were coming in. What happened is they renovated the house. We had several problems with them renovating the house leaving rugs, old rugs that they had pulled out of the house sprawled 80 Resolution 980676 all over. We take pride in the neighborhood, everybody there does. And we had to constantly call and ask could whoever you're getting to do the work would you please have them remove -- if you have rugs taken out of the house and you put something else in, you certainly should remove the old ones, you don't leave them laying out. We finally got that taken care of. I can read you what I have prepared here. United Cerebral Palsy Association purchased the property at 6508 North Tenth Street in the East Oak Lane section of the City, did extensive renovations, and moved in three male handicapped persons in wheelchairs on or about December 15, 1995. Since then, there have been constant problems. They're still ongoing.
Okay, if you would let me read what I have, I will cover just about everything you would need to know.
When they first moved in, one resident out of the three constantly screamed 81 Resolution 980676 day and night, day and night. Nobody else would go over. My husband and I, that's all we did was go over to see what was happening over there. We were told that -- we asked, "Well, what were you told to do," the caregivers, "What were you told to do when the person seems to have this problem with screaming day and night?" And they were told that nobody told them to do anything. In fact, we had one day the resident, the same resident screamed from approximately 8:31 in the morning until nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon. And the person that was the caretaker, she didn't know what to do with him. We kept running over, we kept running over. She said kept asking him if something was wrong with him. I mean, it appeared that UCP put people in and didn't train them, did not train them or tell them what to do whenever they had problems. There was no 19 reason for anybody to scream. I mean, this is constant, constant screaming. If there was a five-minute interval between the screaming from 8:30 in the morning until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, that's ridiculous. She sat him in the back, in the rear of the house. She opened the door and set him in the rear of the home. And of course, the 82 Resolution 980676 neighbors on the back with complaining. I'm going to continue give you what I have here. Part of the other problems are leaves and debris never cleaned up. We have to beg, call all the time asking them to clean up. It is a neighborhood where we have a lot of trees. You know that when you move there that if you have trees, you have a responsibility. That's part the beauty of the neighborhood is the trees. So along with the trees comes responsibility of cleaning up. That's just common sense. You have to beg, beg, beg. When you call UCP, what they tell you we only clean up once a year. So I told the director Mr. Steve Sheridan that I would hate to live next to him if that's what he does at his home. We also have problems -- what had happened when we complained to UCP about the leaves and debris that's never cleaned up, they sent personnel to clean up, and the two people that they sent, they cleaned the leaves up and stored them in the garage. That's a fire hazard. CHAIRWOMAN TASCO: Where is this location?
6508 North Tenth. 83 Resolution 980676 CHAIRWOMAN TASCO: Do you know who operates the home?
UCP, United Cerebral Palsy, Mr. Steve Sheridan. This is since 1995. I'm just bringing you up to date. I believe, Councilperson Tasco, I wrote you a letter, a detailed letter with everything that had happened. It's on file in your office. This is when they told us that they only clean up once a year. Garbage and other trash was being stored in plastic bags and only one plastic trash container was provided at the time. We were constantly calling asked the caregivers to clean up garbage and trash that had been pulled out by birds and squirrels and scattered over people's front lawns. I have picked up from bones from food, everything, from my lawn. Still today additionally trash can are left sitting after emptied as long as sometimes until Sunday morning. Our trash day is Friday. Pickup day is Friday. Snow is not removed from the front payment or side of the house. Also, there's ramp that is required, I'm sure, probably a regulation because they are handicapped people, 84 Resolution 980676 never cleaned. Never cleaned of snow and never cleaned of leaves. CHAIRWOMAN TASCO: Is there a caregiver on site there?
They come in shifts. Let me see, there's person there all night. One person is there all night, probably comes on between 9:00 and 10:00 at night, stays there all night. Washer and driver runs. They wash clothes all night long here the hear the dryer running. CHAIRWOMAN TASCO: Let me say this to you. We have a number of people who have to testify. Could you sum this up, and what we will do --
Well, can I just continue? I'll just continue reading instead of trying to explain it. I have it in here. You will get everything that you need. I will do it quickly. CHAIRWOMAN TASCO: Do you have a copy? If you leave a copy with us, then that's all we need is a copy because we get the gist of what your concerns are, but we do want other people --
You really haven't gotten 85 Resolution 980676 the gist of all the concerns, really. The biggest concern we have is the caretakers. Language, the handicapped persons are sometimes when the weather is good in spring and the fall, they sit them out to wait for the bus to come in the morning. They take them over to, I guess they have some type of a classes or something that they do during the day. What they do is they sit them out in the morning. We have residents that have teenage children, teenage girls. And they make derogatory and foul remarks.
These are handicap. We we complained, we were told that they repeat what they hear. So that means that your staff, of course we have heard it all the time. The driver, the bus company that they use right today language is very, very foul, very foul. That language is used in front of the handicapped. And of course, they're repeating what they hear. The house has been occasionally a key was either misplaced or a person came, didn't have a key, they broke into the house. They literally broke and entered the house, the driver plus the 86 Resolution 980676 caregiver to get into the house. You also have one of your caregivers, she brings her child. He's running all around, he's skating and if you're on your job working, how can you care for -- I guess he looks to be about to 7 years old. How can you do your job that you're 8 getting paid for and see to your child. We had 9 asked, "Well, are they allowed to bring their 10 children?" Mr. Sheridan said he really didn't care. She also brings her personal laundry. Her personal laundry is done in that home. We see this all the time. She takes her personal laundry. You get paid, but you have to use the washer and dryer facilities in the house where you work. They came in December of 1995, and in the spring of this year, they had to replace that washer and dryer. So you have your personnel using the facilities there that are meant to be used for the handicapped. And windows are up, air conditioning is run. In December, January it's nothing to have windows up and air conditioning running. The house should be operated as an economically, especially since it's taxpayers money that's being used. It should be operated as economically as anybody else would run 87 Resolution 980676 their home, but it's not. You have to beg them to take the trash cans in. I mean, it's so numerous until -- This is the problem we're having at this time. We were told by PUC that the buses are not to back up onto private property. That has just started this year. I've complaining ever since March of this year. We have complained to the bus company. We have complained to PUC. They have two people that are constantly calling them telling them about the drivers are not supposed to be doing it. My home gets filled with fumes from the bus. There's a lot of social talking between the driver and one of the caregivers, the female caregiver. The bus could be sitting there 35 to 40 minutes. When they first moved, when they would come to pick the handicapped up, they would sit out there for two hours and 35 minutes because they're not ready and the drivers hang out. It's a hangout. They come with their coffee and their newspapers. It's a hangout. So how is it the caregiver going to do his job if you have people hanging in the house. It's a hangout. We've complained to SEPTA Paratransit about the problem with the bus. We've had four 88 Resolution 980676 buses lined up to pick up three people. It's ridiculous. My driveway has been blocked. We have just had problems, which of we just got a letter from PUC telling us that they are not supposed to do it. They are backing up into the driveway. They're not supposed to be on private property and that it is the City's and License and Inspections and the Police Department, that is their problem and that they should be enforcing that.
Ms. Coley, we have all this for the record. I thank you. I don't want to cut you short, but we have all these witness, but thank you. Any other questions? No questions. Neighbors from West Oak Lane, is that group still here? Fresh start? State your name and your organization if you have one for the record. Before we start, you got a big thing here. Try to make it as brief as possible. And this will get put in the record. It is only three pages. The rest of them are letters of reference from local and state politicians community groups. 89 Resolution 980676
My name is Bill 3 Cornelly, Vice President of Fresh Start. It's a group of recovery houses in the Kensington area. Fresh Start is a community-based, value-focused organization serving the needs of the disadvantaged addict and the Philadelphia community for the past years. Fresh Start understands that 9 issues related to drug and alcohol addiction extend 10 well beyond the boundaries of any individual, 11 neighborhood or social system. Addition and its myriad of related problems require cooperation in order to achieve positive, measurable, sustainable change for the addict and the community. Our mission is to assist the chronic disadvantaged addict in gaining the treatment support necessary for leading a healthy and productive life. Fresh Start seeks access to health care, social services and employment opportunities that can lead to a return to individual dignity and self-sufficiency. Fresh Start understands the concerns of communities regarding the influx of unsupervised and irreparable so-called recovery houses. We do not either condone their behavior nor associate 90 Resolution 980676 ourselves with them. Fresh Start has worked closely with local community groups such as KAN KARP and, as a result, have received their support as well as the support of our neighbors. We work had at being a good neighbor. You'll see on the attachment, Councilman, letters of reference from several politicians and community groups and also from the neighbors themselves. It is our commitment to be a good neighbor, Fresh Start has purchased properties in distressed areas and has upgraded all of our properties to a level not seen in years. Fresh Start has invested over $750,000 in the purchase, upkeep and renovation of all of our properties and, as a result, has improved the neighborhoods. Fresh Start is committed to and uses local businesses for the purchase of products and services. You'll see some of those in there also. In addition, over the past 11 years Fresh Start has served over 10,000 Philadelphia residents. Many of these residents are now successfully clean and sober and gainfully employed. Fresh Start has helped many of its residents find employment over the years and remained committed to 91 Resolution 980676 helping coordinate vocational training, education and job placement. We recently met with Joe Farrell of the Private Industry Council to discuss a more active roll for Fresh Start in the Welfare to Work initiative. Fresh Start understands that recovery houses have been painted and characterized with a broad brush, and, as a whole, are viewed as less than desirable. This is unfortunate for the few better recovery houses. Fresh Start supports standardization and regulation of recovery houses. We participated with CODAAP with the design of initial recovery house minimal standards and we have recently suggested and provided more stringent standards for recovery houses. Fresh Start's corporate structure characterizes their commitment to excellence of service. Fresh Start has a full time master prepared clinical director as well as a clinical supervisor who is a certified addiction counselor. The CEO and COO have been at the helm of Fresh Start for the past 11 years and have developed the vision and values of Fresh Start. The executive vice president has extensive behavioral and physical 92 Resolution 980676 health managed care experience. Fresh Start has an ongoing mandatory weekly staff development program and encourages all of its employees to further their education and attain certification. Fresh Start serves clients from the justice system, Medicaid, Philadelphia County Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs and commercial managed care organizations. In addition, Fresh Start has a contract with Penn Friends, a commercial MCO to provide recovery housing for Aetna/US HealthCare subscribers in the Philadelphia area.
Fresh Start welcomes this opportunity to testify and we thank City Council for taking time to address this important issue. We support the redevelopment and implementation of standards and regulations for recovery houses. We want the good recovery houses to flourish and help the addict and the community and the poorly run houses to cease to exist so they can no longer harm the addict and the community.
Thank you. Bill, let me ask you this question real quick. If I believe everything you say, and I have no doubt because I see the letters from John Taylor, Frank 93 Resolution 980676 Salvator and everybody, you're one of the good ones, right?
What's the difference between you and your group one of the bad ones. Would you say you don't take any nonsense from the people because the people that are in your houses are pretty much the same people with addiction problems, right, people that work for you?
You heard that lady talking about a handicapped place, but if those people worked for you, what would happen if any of that stuff is true? Would that go on at Fresh Start?
No, we would not allow it. We don't allow our clients to mill around outside the houses. They often participate in community clean-ups. If there's a problem with an a neighbor or such, that's immediately addressed. We often hand out food to the neighbors, we take neighbors on community trips. Some of the basic differences are our commitment to structure and to have treating the person with respect and dignity 94 Resolution 980676 and commitment to staff development, commitment to clean, safe, renovated houses that are furnished well that meet all L & I licensure requirements. And we get discouraged when you hear we're painted with a broad brush. There are some good recovery houses. Unfortunately, we all get painted with the same brush. There's very few that we associate with. There's few here we do; but others, we don't associate with.
I'm a little bit familiar with your group. You are familiar with the group whose name we won't mention who have been gone that started this stuff four or five years ago?
When they found out that the pressure was put on from politicians or from the newspapers and from groups like yours, they just went of the business, they went into some 95 Resolution 980676 business, correct?
How did you get 9 into this, if I can ask? Did you have an addiction 10 problem? 11
Well, the owner, John Wells and his wife, I don't think John would -- it's in our brochure, actually. John suffered from addiction, went into recovery for six months, came out and then started to bring people home to his house had nowhere to leave. His wife put up with that for a while, and then they bought their first house. And there is the genesis of Fresh Start.
Joseph Rogers, Mental Health Association of Southeastern, PA, are they still here? 96 Resolution 980676 State your name for the record.
The name is Joseph Rogers, and I'm the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Basically I'm just here today to talk a little bit about some of the things that we've been supporting to try and look at the situation. First place, the Mental Health Association is a rights organization. We're made up of present and former mental patients and their supporters, family members, citizen advocates, and we've been in this area since 1952 advocating for the rights of people with mental illness. We are very concerned that there be community placements for people, that they be adequate, that they be well run, and that there be opportunities for people particularly come out of the institutional settings. We were very active in the closing of Byberry State Hospital and Haverford State Hospital, and we're not working around trying to get people out of Norristown State Hospital. So we're real strong advocates for helping people get into the community. We like to see a range of housing available. We want to make sure that people have 97 Resolution 980676 the kind of housing that they need. Generally, we like to see smaller housing or even give a person their own apartment. A lot of these problems that you've been hearing about come from what's called congregate living situations where people are, you know, living unrelated individuals living in a home and having staff there hours a day and stuff like 9 that. And we're pushing a model which we'd like to 10 see the City of Philadelphia move towards where we 11 have less congregate homes, in fact, not add to the 12 inventory of congregate living for people with 13 mental illness, really move away from that more into 14 a model where people would have their own apartment, 15 maybe have a roommate. There wouldn't be any staff 16 living in the apartment. There might be staff down 17 the street that are available if there's a crisis or 18 a staff could come on temporary basis to be there 19 to help stabilize the person in the apartment. 20 So we feel that would address some of 21 the problem because if you don't have a sign that 22 says program of so and so, a lot of the feelings 23 that the neighbors have just wouldn't been there. 24 The person would sort of be blended into the scenery. And having their own apartment, you don't 98 Resolution 980676 know the person next door who has their own apartment or their own house whether they have a mental health problem or not.
If it was a single apartment somewhere, no one would know the difference, right?
Right. SO that's one thing that we're looking at as a way to solve this problem. Another thing that we participated in has been an effort by the Office of Mental Health is a Good Neighbor Program that they've developed in West Philadelphia. I do hope they do begin to spread. In that have -- that's mostly addressing a lot of these problems we've heard people testify, that who do you go to. There's a situation that, you know, garbage isn't being taken in, the grass isn't being cut. And I think in West Philadelphia, you're going pretty good results of that effort because what we've seen is that through meetings with the agencies kind of forming together and being really basically required to reach out to the community, go to community meetings so that some of these individuals who come here today and have 99 Resolution 980676 concerns, they go to their neighborhood association and they're expressing these concerns. There's representatives of these agencies at those meetings and so they can be held accountable and have the dialog and discussion to try and move toward the situation where it won't happen, it won't be chronic, and it won't just not be addressed. So I really encourage the Council to look at the effort of Estelle Richman's program to create this Good Neighbor Program. The problem is, as Estelle pointed out, it only addresses people who contract with OMH. And there's a huge number of folks out there who are running sort of unlicensed or non-contract agencies.
Joe, what can we do about that? Is there anything you can recommend we can do about people like that?
I wish there was some way we could close down a lot of these unlicensed --
Because when this thing first started, you and I had a little interchange about federal judges and all and I think we felt each other out. We had different ways of going about the same thing. But if we did that and 100 Resolution 980676 we say, look, all of a sudden if you're not licensed in the City of Philadelphia, would the advocacy groups be concerned?
Well, I think with unlicensed boarding homes you probably wouldn't get any big debate from the advocacy groups. Unfortunately, the unlicensed boarding homes are protected under some of the commerce clauses of the Constitution. You know, it's interesting as a civil rights activist, we get accused of vigorously enforcing the rights of individuals and sometimes to the detriment to community. If you look at litigation under the Constitution, the most successful litigation is protecting commerce, and these non-licensed boarding homes are protected under a lot of these commerce provisions. So it's hard to put somebody out of a business or put a set of businesses out of business. But I don't think you'd get a lot of flack because we've seen as monitors of these homes where we have gone in and get complaints from the patients and we go into the private-owned boarding home, board and care facility. Sometimes the conditions are just really horrendous. So we'd been very happy to see vigorous 101 Resolution 980676 enforcement, but it's an expensive proposition because you're talking about 900 facilities.
Joe, why would someone go into an unlicensed boarding home as opposed to a licensed one? There must be a reason.
Well, in Pennsylvania I think we've moved more and more away from the fact that -- in the old days, what happened was when the State had a person in the state hospital or a facility, a lot of times that was the only place the person could go to live. It would be time for them to be discharged, and literally the social worker of the state hospital would have a list of boarding home operators, maybe even know some of them, maybe even getting a kickback from one of them, and would plays a person in the boarding home. That's not happening now. The recent closing of Haverford State Hospital, one of the things we did was we went into federal court and we established a class under federal court to monitor and protect the rights of all the patients being discharged from Haverford as we did in the Byberry situation. And through that process, we're able to assure that those individuals are not being placed 102 Resolution 980676 into those kinds of facilities. Can't speak about other systems where I think what's happening, I think sometimes we see some of the big homes, they recruit from the whole region. And not to say that another state is doing something, but I think New Jersey does a lot of --
So I think that's kind of a regional state-wide problem that we need to look at. Just recently on the whole boarding home issue, I don't know if you saw in the newspaper, but a home up in Mount Airy has been in the paper. We sent in investigators and we're looking at ways that there might be some sort of legal action that can be taken. Again, it's real tough in terms of the regulations that are available.
Joe, let me ask you this since the civil rights piece is very important to you. And not being a lawyer I keep saying that. I start try to understand things that --
The Congress right now was told by the councilpeople who is pretty big 103 Resolution 980676 nationally that Congress is looking the American Disability Act, and what they will say, and I don't know if it's on the record or off, but they'll say, look, when that written, it was written for people with physical and mental handicaps. We'll give you people with drug addiction but not for bad kids or things like that. What would you say about that? Do you think that has a chance of changing?
I don't think the ADA is going to change anytime soon because it has a lot of support. I think there's a lot of people that are going to complain about the ADA. But I think that whenever there's any efforts to modify or change it, there's a pretty good coalition which we're part of. I helped write the ADA. So we're not too --
So that means you must understand it so we can call you when we need it interpreted.
Yes, I have a pretty good understanding of it. But I think that the ADA is not going to change. If fact, if anything, I think we're seeing some real good applications of the ADA when it comes to protecting the rights of people right to live in the community. 104 Resolution 980676 Recently, there was a case brought in in federal court in this community and it's now been appealed at a district court. We're waiting to see if the district court supports our position. But if it does, it's going to firm up the right the fact that the ADA among other laws protects the rights of people who live in the community.
Joe, you sat here during the whole interchange with the Berfields and SPIN. Put yourself in the Berfields' shoes or SPIN shoes. What would you say to them?
Well, as a person who's lived in many Philadelphia communities, I bounced around, I think, you know -- I kind of think I was saying to my friends that it's interesting, they at least have somebody to call up and complain about their lousy neighbors. I've had a lot of lousy neighbors and there's been no one to call when they didn't take their garbage in and when they didn't cut their lawn.
You're supposed to call your City Councilman because that's what everybody else does.
Well, you know, I figure my 105 Resolution 980676 poor City Councilperson John Street's busy, he's not going be able to come cut the guy's lawn.
I have gotten lawns cut. I've done that. I haven't done it myself, but I've paid people to do it.
I think, though, it's not something that should get to City Council.
AND I think the program that Estelle has put together and Tom O'Hare who works for Estelle Richman --
Tom was here. I was dying to get him up here, but he took off.
Tom's done a really good job of putting this kind of model program together where agencies are really required and they really keep on the agencies to show up at regular meetings to -- I mean, at a certain point you're going to get action because it's embarrassing to show up at the meeting and have the neighbors like came here and come to the meeting and say, "We talked to you at the last meeting and still nothing's happening." So I think you begin to see these agencies taking a lot more responsibility and action. So I hope that the 106 Resolution 980676 Council looks at what Estelle has done to date on this. I think the problem in terms of what I've been listening, main issue is the council's desire to be informed before the purchase. And that does get into the Fair Housing Act and that does get into an area where it would be very difficult for the Department of Health to do that. We would probably sue them in federal court.
But couldn't there be like -- this whole thing started with this one up on Oxford Avenue with COMAR. COMAR iS a great organization, by the way, and they try and I spoke with them and I say that the record. But if someone would have called me in December and said, "Look, by the way be ready for these can calls and do not tell anybody," I could have prepared a little better. And I see it happening in different parts of the City.
The one thing I could suggest is and I know this is just sort of sneaky way of doing it if this is a constant problem. I would say get somebody on their board of directors. Then you would be informed immediately because it's 107 Resolution 980676 a discussion at board level when they're looking at purchasing a house.
At the case with COMAR, like I said, COMAR was small and there were people probably a bunch of ladies from Port Richmond who are in their sixties now that had sons my age and they found themselves one day, they said, look, we don't have mentally handicapped children. Where do we go? Well, it became that. It got to the point where somebody sold them a bill of goods and said, We can get you out of these CLA's to this next step and they have a house they bought and they don't want this publicity. It was never about that. They signed a contract with the City and they're trying to do something.
You know, it's interesting just in terms of that particular program. And I understand neighbors not wanting a 16 persons residence next door. But from my viewpoint from a person who's been hospitalized for mental illness, it's kind of a unique and interesting program, and Philadelphia is sort of a national leader by having created those kinds of programs because what we're looking at is -- and it's actually in response to 108 Resolution 980676 many of the complaints of this community to the fact that people were being discharged from state hospitals who weren't really community ready and there wasn't a type of program that provided the intensive care that the 16-person intensive care residences provides. So it's kind of an interesting irony in that our solution to the fact that there are people that are homeless and in jail and stuff because their mental illness wasn't properly supported and monitored, we created this kind of programming. So the attempt is, the hope is by that kind of programming, we'll see less people living on the street corner carrying on and being mentally.
These intensive care houses like that one I'm speaking about, I mean, theoretically if there was an enough people to assist these people we could have them in apartments by themselves and there would any difference. It's for economics, right, so they could have one person with 16 people or --
I think we could create a model where we don't need 16 care residences. I mean, it's not going to happen today.
Or this week. And I think that residences there in some ways, and I'm not going to be unsupportive of that residence, but I think that the reality is that we could create a system of care in this City where people don't have to live in congregate living. I think if the Council wants to make a progressive supportive statement of people with mental illness, that would be an interesting statement to make, that not that we don't want people in the community, we want and support, in fact, we resolve that people should live in the community but they should live in the community in real integrated settings with the maximum of integration possible. Quite frankly, 16-person residences, even 8-person residences -- 3 persons is, I mean, that's kind of pretty integrated. And I've heard the complaints about the three persons residences so that's interesting. But I think the idea that we move away from long congregate facilities would be a wonderful statement for Council to make that the advocates would be supportive of. I think it's going to have to be something's that's going to take some time and it takes cooperation of the State, they're going to 110 Resolution 980676 have to fund programs and reimburse at a rate that allows for that.
Joe, thanks for you help and thanks for your expertise on the subject. Next witness would be Audrey, Visions for equality. Is Audrey still here? State your name for the record and your group.
My name is Audrey Coccia, and I'm from Vision for Equality. I apologize for not having formal written testimony, but I only heard about this hearing this afternoon and I kind of quickly put together some of my thoughts and I must tell you that my testimony comes first as testimony of experience but also as testimony from the heart. My name is Audrey Coccia, and I'm the wife of a retired Philadelphia fire fighter. I'm the mother of a lovely young woman with significant disabilities and a Philadelphia resident for over 58 years. I'm also one of the co-founders and board members of the Philadelphia Police and Fire Association for Handicapped Children. I'm also the executive director of an agency called Vision for 111 Resolution 980676 Equality. Our agency serves people with developmental disability living in the City of Philadelphia. Our staff are comprised of people with disabilities and family members. We offer services in advocacy and customer satisfaction for people with developmental disabilities and their families. We have embodied in our mission the role of assisting and empower individuals and their families to seek quality in their lives as well as equal access to supports and services in the community. We believe and uphold the people have the right to happy and meaningful lives in neighborhoods where they can participate as valued members of their community. We believe in support the right for them to live in neighborhoods like yours and mine. Over the last seven years it has been my personal privilege to assist and support over 300 people with disabilities and their families in their transition to community living arrangements, CLA's, as they have either left institutions or moved from their family homes to be their own often due to 112 Resolution 980676 failing health or the death of thier parents or due to the desire to be more independent. These folks are now living in every neighborhood in Philadelphia building meaningful and rich lives for themselves with dignity, gaining the respect of their many neighbors as they develop relationships and friendships with people who give them the opportunity and the chance. In doing this, I believe I have learned a lot about the human condition, ugly side of it and the loving one. I've witnessed meetings where people have hurled insults and disparaging remarks, more caught up in their fears than dealing with reason or rights. I've also found neighbors who were embracing and open to new folks on their block. I have seen agencies try to uphold the right to freedom and confidentiality while trying to struggle with the fears of hostile unyielding neighbors. In spite of all of that, I believe we are on the crest of evolution of a new day when people have begun to realize that people with disabilities have the same rights to them to a home, to a life with the right of liberty and the pursuit of happiness living next door to them. 113 Resolution 980676 I believe that the resolution proposed here today raises many questions of concern. First, around the basic issues of discrimination and possible violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act, as you heard earlier, and the Americans for Disabilities Act, which guarantees people with disabilities the same rights that you and I take for granted every day. Resolution 980676 could put in clear jeopardy the protections under these federal acts and would call into question the Constitutionality of such a statute. Any changes requiring notification to neighbors violates the right to privacy and confidentiality. I believe this resolution is clearly discriminatory and threatens the City with possible resultant litigation should it pass. Additionally, I am stunned with the idea that we should consider the idea measuring the concentration of any person by label or type. This City is built on neighborhoods, often with large numbers of peoples of likeness. Should we count how many people there are?
Should count how man Italians live in South Philadelphia or how many Protestants live on one block? Should we tell them 114 Resolution 980676 that there are too many and no more are allowed? I would certainly hope not. Our agency would like to remind members of the committee, unfortunately most of them are not here --
I hope so. That we live supposedly in the City of Brotherly Love where everyone is welcome where we embrace difference. As someone who has a good deal of experience in the development of group homes, and more importantly, as a mother of someone with a disability, I urge you not to consider this resolution. I want to know that some day when my daughter moves on to living in a home of her own that we can expect she can do so and that we will remember that she, too, is a citizen with rights, that she has a right to live in a neighborhood, to choose where that neighborhood is, to buy the services she chooses from someone, if it be an agency, so be it; and that these are her inalienable rights. In response to a number of things that 115 Resolution 980676 were said here today, I want to kind of like respond to them. I want you, Councilman Mariano, to remember that my daughter is a citizens and lives in this City and has lived here all of her life just you and me. I want you to know that I live in the far Northeast and that I opened group homes in that area before I bought my home there. I want you to know that I, too, am a mother and a grandmother and I can tell you that my grandchildren live around the corner from that same group home and I don't think that it harms them in any way. I want you to know that there is a game plan and that is by families and people with disabilities themselves. And that is they want the right for their sons and daughters to live where they were raised often and grown and now want them to live there after no longer to care for them themselves. I expect that my daughter can live in Somerton just like she does now when I am either sick or gone, and I think she has that right. I think that it's important for us to remember that, yes, some times people require support and those people who do should of it for them. I think we're all interested in quality for people with disabilities in their lives and that 116 Resolution 980676 agencies will give them that quality, and I think it's unfortunate that we're not open to understand often as I saw this young woman for her children to know that when my daughter comes into church or moves in a house next door to her that that's okay. I also want you to know that my husband was a blue colar worker and still is.
I have a couple things I want to tell you because of your statement. All these hearings are -- the resolution already passed. The resolution is to have the hearings, and the hearings resolved by the Council of the City of Philadelphia that it hereby authorizes this, this Council Committee on Health and Human Services conduct hearings for the purposes of examining the placement and concentration CLA in the City. Nobody is going to stop doing this. We just need some kind of healing process and to make sure this brings to light. Now, this is a public record and I'll recess this when everyone's done we'll have it again when Debbie Russo has her twins and she can tell us the legal aspect of it. But a lot of people need to know exactly what's going on. I try not to do anything that would hurt your daughter or anyone 117 Resolution 980676 like her or anybody. I did this because I want them to understand. By you coming and doing the statement you just did, that's good because people need to understanding that the people in these homes are perfectly normal. If they knew and your daughter, I never met your daughter, I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem. That person that was there before had a problem, her fears compounded by the stuff that goes on that may never really happen, it's just perception, and perception is reality to those people. That's why we need these hearings. So do not have any fear that anything's going change. It's just the guy that before you explained that we need to examine some things where we help both sides. It's not going to change the Americans with Disability Act, and that's why I asked him that question because he knew. But we need so everybody understands that they have a right, too, but we need to let the other people know what's going on, just a little dialog between people and that's the way things usually work out.
I do think that it's important that this City do more in terms of education around people with disabilities so that 118 Resolution 980676 people are more understanding, that they do have a better knowledge of what people are capable of rather than some of the things -- I mean, the interesting thing to me with this young woman is, like Joe, I've lived in many neighborhoods and I can tell you there's plenty of neighbors I would have liked to have gotten rid of. And I didn't have right to do that, not any more than anybody has the right to get rid of any these folks. And you know what, we all have a bad day. And I'm sure there have been occasions when maybe someone heard her screaming in the house, too, maybe with a couple kids, you know.
Perceptions are often blown out of proportion. We need to do more in terms educating the general public to the issues of disabilities and also the capabilities of people with disabilities. That's where we should be focusing our attention, not thinking about whether or not, you know, there's saturation. I mean, what is saturation? I mean, like we can say any neighborhood in any nationality is saturating 119 Resolution 980676 neighborhood. That's insulting to me as a mom. If my daughter's going to live in the Northeast, she has a right to do that whether there's another house on that block or not. We don't measure how many people live on a block whether they're the same color or they're the same religion, or they all have blond hair.
I think when the saturation thing started out, a lot of the poorer neighborhoods it seems like they were going there first, and obviously for the reason that the houses were cheaper. And you don't see them in some neighborhoods because the houses -- it's strictly economics.
But that's not quite true. Because in the 300 people that I moved, I can tell you that probably 150 of them moved into the Northeast because that's where their were families and that's where and that's where they wanted them. And I think that's where they should be, they should be in close proximity so that their families can stop in and see how things are going, seeing whether the agency is doing a good job. And I think that that presents the opportunity. I have met families 120 Resolution 980676 who are 60, 70, and 80 years old whose sons and daughters have left institutions to return to the community. They'd like to visit them once in a while. Now if we're going to put them halfway across the City or create a ghetto of people of disabilities, I think that that's wrong. They deserve to live in every community in this City. And, yes, some of us actually do buy houses in communities where we open group homes.
I appreciate that. Thank you for your good comments. (Applause.)
One Day at a Time, I'm familiar with this group. This is a great group. Say your name and the group and what you do.
My name is Ray Pounce (ph) I'm the Deputy Director for One Day at a Time. I'm also here supported by the founder and president of One Day at a Time, Rev. Henry Wells and some various staff members of ODAAT. I apologize for not having written testimony also. When this came to our attention this afternoon we realized we needed to come and make a statement on the record. 121 Resolution 980676
CLA's, as far as we're concerned could mean any residence of people with disabilities or common problems, and that means that we're concerned. We're concerned because it could mean recovery houses, it could mean mental health facilities, et cetera, et cetera. You can transpose CLA to make it say a number of things. So we want to go on record as to our concerns. And I think some of the problems is with the respect and dignity of the people with the problems and residents or the next door neighbors of the facilities. And One Day at a Time has been fortunate and through Rev. Wells' foresight envisioned -- we've always had a good relationship with our communities because we've done some intimate things with them. We've done things for them. We've always had a quid pro quo relationship with the residents. If that meant going to the store for our senior citizens, painting, going on errands, being supportive, being mentors to the children, various things, we came as helpers and healers because some of our clients have been destroyers of our 122 Resolution 980676 neighborhoods. That's part of our therapy process, that's part of the giving back process, and most of the elderly people in our neighborhoods, when they see five to six to seven people in a group on their way back and forth to group therapy and they're smiling and they have shining faces and they're not carrying 40's or smoking joints, they know that that's One Day at a Time, we're going through their neighborhood and we become the hope for our communities. And we will be glad to share that wisdom and that expertise with the City. And as far as helping them devise some type of strategy with the CLA's, all the other acronyms for the mental health institutions, to devise some type of strategy where the communities can be included, they can feel some respect and they can feel some dignity. If this is truly the land of opportunity, then the disabled and the abled adds up to an integrated community. You can't have a community without both. And thank you for your time.
I'm Ruth Frank, and I live at 9223 Alton Street in the Northeast. 123 Resolution 980676
That's around Krewstown Road and Grant Avenue. I do live next to a group home. There's a group home, I think it's six people about four doors from me. I never see them, I never hear them, there's no complaints. My good neighbors live next door, they just say the good people that live there. If I see them on the street, I'll say hello to them and I'll tell them that I have a son that lives in a group home. I wrote down two things about living next to a group home, trash cans, because somebody mentioned trash cans. My son has mental retardation, just moved to an apartment. He moved a row of houses that have duplexes. When there's trash day and they take the trash, he goes up and down the street and puts everybody's trash can where it belongs. So I saw him do a couple, but they tell me he goes up and down the block. He likes to do that. I just want to tell you a little bit about my son. He's 46 years old he and he was born in the Jewish Hospital which is now Einstein 124 Resolution 980676 Northern. So he was born in Philadelphia just like his brother was born in Philadelphia. We lived at Sixth and Brown, we had a grocery store there. We lived in Kensington. Now I live in the Northeast. My son is a voter. My son has a job. He pays taxes, and he needs assistance. He has 24-hour staff, but I think my son is a contributing member to the community and he is a citizen and he's just the same as my other son and the same as me. When my other son wants to move in a neighborhood, he doesn't to go to the councilpeople and he doesn't have to go to next door neighbors. There's just one more thing I want to talk about. About 27 years ago, my husband and I and a group of neighborhood people started an agency that provided group homes. We were community people, there were a few parents. When we started them, we started in Kensington because that's where I lived. We did have to go up and down the neighbors to tell them we were going to open a group home. But one time I told a friend of mine who was committee woman that we were thinking about opening a group home in her street, and before I knew it, there was a community meeting and they voted us 125 Resolution 980676 down, they wouldn't let us go into the neighborhood. So there's very strong reason why you can't tell the people because if you do tell the people you're never going to get your foot in. But I do agree with everybody that's saying that you should tell the committee people and the Councilpeople and I do agree with that. And I've gone up and down neighborhoods for other agencies and just told them who was coming in when they with afraid, and I don't think that's so bad. I think that's all I have to say. But I just want to stress that I liked what Dee had to say.
People with retardation are people. They are human beings. They're not different than anybody else, and there's plenty of neighbors that fight. I used to hear my next door neighbors, they used to have terrible fights on Saturday night and my son used to holler, too. But what can you do? You can't protect a person. Like that other woman said, her son will be damaged; you can't protect a person from seeing the world and you don't want to protect them. They have to see what 126 Resolution 980676 life is.
One lighthearted moment. I heard a Catholic priest tell this story. He said, my parents were married 40 years. They only had one fight, it lasted 40 years. So everybody fights. I appreciate it. And the lady in the back, Audrey, there is a list of Italians, and I do have that. (Laughter.)
Just kidding, just kidding. Ma'am, say your name for the record.
I'm Edith Kosmin, that's K-O-S-M-I-N. And I live in the 8500 block of Somerdale Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.
Yes, you are. I'm a parent of a fellow who's 49 years old who lives in a community arrangement with two other men.
He lives near you somewhere so you can go and see him?
He lives near us on Algon 127 Resolution 980676 Avenue. He was home until because we had a younger daughter who needed a lot of concern and care, too. We sent him to private school which didn't work out, and he was in an institution for nine years and we were able to bring him back to the community, which is what we worked for. My husband and I were on the board of directors for many years, started one of the centers in the Northeast, as a matter of fact.
Path. He he's not with 14 Path now, but he was at that time. And we always 15 worked for community services even though we did not 16 know that our son would ever come back to 17 Philadelphia. But we did everything we could to 18 bring him back here. And he's been living in community living arrangements for almost years. 20 Because of his special needs, because there are some medical needs as well as developmental disabilities, we sought another program for him. He's in the same program that Ruth's son is in now. And because there are things that can be done to improve programs as they are delivered, a 128 Resolution 980676 group of parents got together, these are parents and families of people who have family members living in CLA's and we formed a group called Fail Safe two years ago and we have been working closely with the County Office to develop procedures to help agencies if they ask for our assistance to improve how they're training staff, how they relate to families. And we have just recently come out with one of the things County Office has sent out a memo to all agencies asking them to consider what we have proposed very carefully and we will be coming out with our own procedures as to how we would assist if we're called in to assist agencies in developing training. And as a parent I tried to be helpful in enlightening our agency and staff in how to develop supports for people so that they can function a better, so that they can reach their potential, so that if they're screaming we have to find out why and help that to stop. So we feel that we are doing something that could have been negative and turned it into a very positive way of wanting to be of help. And all of our family members are very now conversing with all the regulations and all the acts and so forth and so on, so we feel that we have a 129 Resolution 980676 good base for helping other families.
Thank you. Thank you very much. That's last person to testify. We will reconvene this to the call of the Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming. (Hearing adjourned at 6:45 p.m.) - - - 130 C E R T F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of December 8, 1998, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public