Return Home NJ was an initiative launched in 2012 by the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities NJ DDD designed to return all residents of New Jersey who are receiving DDD services and living in out-of-state specialized residential facilities to group homes and supervised apartments in New Jersey.
While this was good for some, it proved disastrous for others. For instance, one young man with severe disabilities was returned from Woods Services in Pennsylvania to a New Jersey group home. Unfortunately, a group home setting was not appropriate for him. Subsequently, he was sent to multiple hospitals and jail because he could not tolerate the homelike setting. He needed more structure than a group home offered and he received that much-needed structure in jail. He was arrested after the police became fed up with bringing him back and forth to the hospital each day sometimes more than once per day. Financial resources shifted from Woods to the jail and police systems.
Also, some individuals ended up in the State Psychiatric Hospital system, which is not ideal for those with severe disabilities.
New Jersey has minimal facility-based programs, including the 5 Developmental Centers, one ICF in Bergen County, and the Bancroft campuses. We have nowhere like Woods Services.
DDD thought that Return Home NJ would make it easier for families to visit together in New Jersey. It is not easier to visit in a hospital or jailhouse. Many families prefer to visit in an out-of-state setting than to return to NJ and face all sorts of problems.
Deinstitutionalization may be ideal for some higher-functioning individuals but for those with more complex behavioral and medical needs, it can be a disaster. Many out-of-state facilities are less institutional than a State Hospital or jail. A lot of specialized facilities look like gated communities, college campuses, and other “normal” settings. It may be less institutional to stay out of state rather than return to New Jersey.
Fortunately, Governor Chris Christie put an indefinite moratorium on Return Home NJ, and many people were allowed to leave New Jersey and return to their specialized facilities. However new individuals are not allowed to leave New Jersey on New Jersey funds, which can be problematic if New Jersey does not develop more facility-based programs and ICFs, especially for those with severe behavioral and mental health concerns. NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities does not under any circumstances send people to out-of-state residential programs and NJ Children's System of Care only occasionally sends people out of state when all options inside New Jersey have been exhausted. This is not ideal for those for whom group homes do not work. All New Jersey has is group homes, group homes, and more group homes...
We need more facility-based programs in New Jersey including campuses (also known as Intentional Communities) and dormitory-style locked units for those with special behavioral and mental health needs with a developmental disability and we need to allow out-of-state placements in specialized residential facilities for those with dual diagnosis.
Great blog
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