Topeka ? The state’s three large hospitals for the developmentally disabled are institutional “dinosaurs” that should be closed, advocates for the disabled told lawmakers Monday.

Catherine Johnson, with Disability Rights Center of Kansas, said the hospitals were an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars and often failed to meet the needs of those living there.

“Thankfully, they are becoming the dinosaurs of developmental disability services,” she said.

Johnson told the Legislative Budget Committee that lawmakers should follow the lead of several other states and set a date for closing large public and private hospitals for the developmentally disabled. In Kansas, those facilities include Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka, Parsons State Hospital and the privately owned New Horizons in Pittsburg.

She said people being cared for in those hospitals would be better served in their homes or community-based settings and have the services brought to them.

The committee took no action, though the issue has long been under study by state officials.

“We are trying to get as many people into the communities receiving services as possible,” said Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, the committee’s chairman. “We want to do what is right for them and right for the taxpayers.”

Kyle Kessler, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, said the hospitals still served a need.

“We are obviously strong believers in home and community-based services, but we also believe that some people feel more comfortable in more institutionalized settings,” Kessler said.

The number of people in large institutions has dropped dramatically during the past several years, while the number of people receiving services in communities has increased.

In 1990, approximately 2,000 people were served in institutions and fewer than 4,000 in community settings. By 2005, approximately 500 people were served in institutions while more than 9,000 were served in communities, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department.

At KNI, 98 percent of the residents are categorized in the severe to profound range of mental retardation, while at Parsons, about half the residents are considered in that category. The two facilities together cost about $47.4 million annually to operate.

Johnson said it had been shown that in previous hospital closings, people with severe disabilities could get the services they need in the community.

The state closed Norton State Hospital in 1988, Topeka State Hospital in 1997 and Winfield State Hospital in 1998.