Greene Valley Developmental Center needs your help!

TSEA January 14, 2015 Comments Off on Greene Valley Developmental Center needs your help!
Greene Valley Developmental Center needs your help!

Many of the residents of Greene Valley Developmental Center as well as all of the facility’s employees need YOUR help!

In an effort to exit a 20-year-old lawsuit, the State of Tennessee recently announced plans to close Greeneville’s Greene Valley Developmental Center. The announcement took many of the guardians and family members by surprise.

A hearing to decide the fate of the facility is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2015.

WE NEED EVERYONE TO CALL THEIR LEGISLATORS AND URGE THEM TO ASK THE GOVERNOR TO DELAY THE CLOVER BOTTOM SETTLEMENT.

If GVDC is closed, it would displace all 96 intellectually disabled residents and put 619 state employees out of work.

The Plaintiffs in the suit are the United States of America and People First of Tennessee, Inc., and the Defendant is the State of Tennessee. The Parent Guardian Associations of Clover Bottom Developmental Center and Greene Valley Developmental Center are interveners.

The closure of GVDC was requested by People First and agreed upon by the State, however the PGA and the United States DO NOT require this action.

WE NEED YOU TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY AND URGE THEM TO ASK THE GOVERNOR TO DELAY THE CLOVER BOTTOM SETTLEMENT.


Our concerns…

The Residents

  • The state has not produced a detailed plan about transitioning the Greene Valley residents into group homes.
  • Many of the 96 residents at GVDC require constant 24/7 medical attention and are severely disabled.
  • In 2006, Greene Valley was dismissed from the portion of the lawsuit dealing with institutional conditions.
  • The workers at GVDC have worked with the facility’s residents for so long that they have become surrogate family members. For many of the residents, closing the facility would be the equivalent of kicking residents out of their homes and taking their families away.
  • According to recent reports, deaths among people with intellectual disabilities released from institutions have doubled in Tennessee since 2009, though the total population has only increased by 11%.

The Disabled Community

  • There are 7100+ residents with intellectual disabilities waiting for a long-term program in Tennessee.
  • The state is closing facilities that are already built, capable of providing needed services to these families, in exchange for building new facilities to service those who are already being served. This plan doesn’t address the list.
  • There is no list for residents with developmental disabilities in Tennessee, and therefore little options for service. Some estimates have the number of residents with developmental disabilities at 44,000 in Tennessee.

The Greeneville Community

  • Greeneville’s unemployment is currently 7.9%. If the 600+ employees at Greene Valley are laid off, that county’s unemployment rate will immediately rise to over 10%, 4th highest in the state.

Greene Valley Employees

    • 619 state workers stand to lose their jobs if Greene Valley is closed.
    • Greeneville is a rural community with little other industry, making work difficult to find; 10% unemployment will devastate this community.

How you can help

Please contact your legislators ASAP and urge them to ask the Governor to delay the Clover Bottom settlement.

If we don’t delay this settlement, Greene Valley will be closed!

Please call your legislator today!

Don’t know how your Legislators are? CLICK HERE