Home invasion: The Arizona Training Program at Coolidge is the only home some developmentally disabled people have known

Elliot Gory, a psychologist who has worked part time with clients at ATPC for 30 years, says trying to reconcile the current attitude toward institutions with the level of care ATPC clients receive is quite a dilemma.

"The clients at ATPC have lived their lives there. That's all they know," he says. "So here's the challenge: In America, the ethic is integration, and I certainly support that. But for these clients, that's all they've known."

The argument inside the Legislature, however, is clearly more about money. A bill to shut ATPC was introduced this year in the House Appropriations Committee and not, interestingly, in Human Services, the committee that generally deals with DDD legislation.

The bill was introduced by Republican Majority Whip John McComish, who says the facility must close because it's too expensive and because the clients can be better served elsewhere.

McComish did not respond to a request for an interview for this story, but he did explain his position at a legislative hearing on the bill held March 5.

"I found that the institutionalization, if that's the correct word, of the developmentally disabled community is not the accepted model today. Community-based care is the best care for people with developmental disabilities issues. The secondary point is that the Coolidge facility is more costly. Thirdly, it really takes very poor advantage of a very valuable state resource [the land it sits on]," he told the committee.

At the hearing, he mentioned he had toured the Coolidge facility, as well as another large, privately run facility in Phoenix.

The bill was tabled at a hearing on March 12, but there's a rumor it could re-emerge in the Senate toward the end of the legislative session.

McComish used the word "institution" several times throughout his statement. It's a word disability advocates have a hard time overcoming.

But in the case of Coolidge, it's a misnomer. These days it's more a nursing home than anything else.

State Representative Pete Rios has fought the facility's closure throughout his entire 24 years in the Arizona Legislature. Rios is a well-known Democrat and former Senate president who represents the district in which ATPC — Coolidge's largest employer — is located. He's not running for re-election, and though he's always defended ATPC, he's now even freer with his opinions.

"I'm totally against the closure of that training center. First of all, because they're getting good care. These people that want to close it say the state should not be running an institution, a very bad image to conjure up," he says. "The training center in Coolidge [consists of] cottages. They're spread out, there's a lot of acreage. They have qualified staff, they have doctors, they have dentists and specialists. Not only should we not be closing the training center, we should be making these service available to others because it's a great resource."

But it's an expensive resource.

The center sits on 87 acres of the 320 acres of land owned by ATPC, land designated by state law for use by the developmentally disabled. Those in favor of closing the facility wonder whether it is the best use for so many acres of land, and say it could be sold, with the profit going into the state's DD Client Services Trust Fund.

(However, on April 18, Governor Janet Napolitano approved budget cuts that hacked $1.6 million from this account as well as $1.8 million from a fund for early autism intervention — leaving many wondering if money from a land sale would actually end up filtering back to developmentally disabled people.)

McComish is right; it does cost money to run. It costs $138,470 a year per person on average, and as the population dwindles, the facility becomes more expensive to operate. The cost of living at ATPC includes extras like dental care and specialized wheelchairs. By contrast, the annual cost per person in a group home is $38,938 a year.

Keep in mind, by statute, Arizona group homes can hold no more than six people and do not include some of the benefits, like preventive dental care, that ATPC residents enjoy. They're also continuously understaffed, with a high turnover rate. Also, housing and attendant care for the Arrington twins and others like them would raise the figure a lot.