X

Massena mayor says he will 'do whatever he can' to aid NYSARC clients who will be displaced due to court ruling

Posted 3/4/15

By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- Mayor Timmy Currier says he wants to do whatever he can to help St. Lawrence NYSARC clients who will soon be out of group homes and sheltered work environments due to a …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Massena mayor says he will 'do whatever he can' to aid NYSARC clients who will be displaced due to court ruling

Posted

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Mayor Timmy Currier says he wants to do whatever he can to help St. Lawrence NYSARC clients who will soon be out of group homes and sheltered work environments due to a court ruling.

He made the statement after Massena resident R. Shawn Gray told the Board of Trustees that advocates will soon seek local support in opposition of the closures.

“We hear it loud and clear,” Currier said. “I’ll say for myself, personally, I’ll help any way I can.”

St. Lawrence NYSARC, and other similar organizations are facing closure over the next five years due to several factors.

In what is known as the Olmstead decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 ruled that work centers represent unjustified segregation of people with disabilities and constitutes discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

There is also a drop and now a freeze in how many new certified residences are allowed for groups of the disabled. That is accompanied by a consistent drop in financial aid supplied by the state, totaling about $1.5 million since 2010.

In addition to the sheltered work positions that will leave, 57 people who take care of the developmentally challenged people will lose their jobs, Gray said.

“Fifty seven jobs is 57 jobs,” Gray said.

He also noted that some of NYSARC’s clients are taken care of by family, who will be saddled with extra burden. They may find it difficult to find work outside of the one-on-one supervision NYSARC offers, Gray said.

Some of the jobs the clients perform include bottle redemption and contracted cleaning and maintenance with the town, village and U.S. Border Patrol.

“Although (the court ruling’s) intention looks good … they’re still one of our most marginalized populations,” he said, also noting that their caregivers “only respite is during those seven or eight work hours.”

Go here to read our earlier story about the St. Lawrence NYSARC closure.