Before closing one of two state hospitals for the developmentally disabled, state officials must make sure that community facilities are ready to accept the residents who will be displaced.

Last week, Jane Rhys, executive director of the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, announced that it’s time for Kansas to close either the Parsons State Hospital and Training Center or the Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka.

“For every person in the hospitals now, there is someone who is just as fragile or whose behaviors are just as difficult, living in a community setting,” she said. “They don’t have to be in an institution. They should be and they deserve to be living in the community.”

She bolstered her argument by pointing out that because of the fixed costs of state hospitals, it costs about $130,000 a year to serve one resident, compared with a cost of about $25,000 in a community facility.

It’s hard to disagree with either point. People with developmental disabilities deserve to live in the least restrictive environment possible, and if that can be done at less cost to the state, so much the better. However, closing either state hospital is going to require the state to transfer some of that investment to the community facilities that will be asked to serve people who have more significant medical and behavioral issues than many of their current clients.

It’s a great goal to move people out of institutions and into community care. Many communities, including Lawrence, have some wonderful agencies and supervised homes that provide services to people with developmental disabilities. However, recent reports of abuse at a local group home serve as a reminder that not all residents of such homes are receiving the kind of care the state should support.

Community Living Opportunities was fined $10,000 earlier this month after state officials investigated reports of abuse at a CLO group home. Also this month, a CLO employee was found not guilty in Douglas County District Court of abuse charges stemming from incidents that occurred at the same group home a year ago. Testimony in the trial indicated the employee hadn’t been properly trained in the use of a “gait belt,” a device to lift a man off the ground.

The message the state should be receiving is that it is difficult, with current funding, for community group homes to hire and retain well-motivated and well-qualified workers. Additional state money is needed to hire and train staff members, and additional state oversight is needed to minimize abusive situations. A $10,000 fine sends an important message, but it doesn’t erase the abuse suffered by residents.

Although it’s desirable to move people with developmental disabilities out of state hospitals, it is a disservice to those clients to move them into facilities that aren’t prepared to meet their needs. If, as Rhys said, it’s time to close one of the state’s hospitals for the developmentally disabled, it’s also time for the state to make an increased commitment to the community services for the developmentally disabled.