By Stephen Smoot
“I am writing to formally submit this Letter of Intent to the West Virginia Health Care Authority (WVHCA) regarding our proposal to establish a new Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) to become an IDD service provider.”
Ladale Jackson of Liberty Community Programs WV LLC submitted this letter on March 14 for a proposed “IDD Group Home in Sugar Grove, West Virginia.”
The address listed, 133 Hedrick Drive, confirms that the company intends to use the former Navy Base at Sugar Grove for its purposes. Currently, the company has submitted a Certificate of Need waiver application for consideration by the West Virginia Health Care Authority.
According to the Health Care Authority, “In West Virginia, all health care providers, unless otherwise exempt, must obtain a CON before (1) adding or expanding health care services, (2) exceeding the capital expenditure threshold of $5,803,788, (3) obtaining major medical equipment valued at $5,803,788 or more, or (4) developing or acquiring new health care facilities.”
It goes on to state that “The statutorily mandated CON review process primarily includes the determination of need, consistency with the State Health Plan, and financial feasibility.” The State uses certain metrics and measurements to make those determinations.
Due in part to both Republican and Democratic federal administrations finding state CON laws counterproductive in almost every presidency since Ronald Reagan, Governor Patrick Morrisey made repealing such laws a centerpiece of his legislative program. The State Legislature, however, declined to pass the proposed repeal.
Otherwise, Liberty Community Programs would not need to take such a step.
The West Virginia based operation, which received its business license from the Secretary of State’s office on Feb 10, has a parent company based out of Culver City, California, near Los Angeles. The parent company, Liberty Behavioral and Community Services, has a stated mission to “empower and enrich the lives of adults with autism and developmental disabilities.”
The company website adds that “we are committed to providing comprehensive and personalized services that promote independence, personal growth, and community integration.”
Liberty Behavioral and Community Services also proclaims a vision, which “is to be a leading provider of behavioral services for adults with autism and developmental disabilities, recognized for our exceptional quality of care and positive outcomes.”
Additionally, the company envisions “a future where every individual with autism and developmental disabilities has access to evidence-based, person-centered interventions that support their unique needs and foster their growth and development.”
While the applications for paperwork list a Morgantown address for the company, the Business Registration certificate itself lists the Navy Base as its professional street address.
A CON application includes detailed information about the intended goals, such as “specific services to be provided.”
At Sugar Grove, Liberty Community Programs plans start with establishing a licensed group home that features “24/7 assistance tailored to each individual’s needs, focusing on personal care, skill development, and daily living activities.” It will also provide “Behavior Support Professional Services” that include “specialized interventions to address challenging behaviors and develop positive coping strategies.”
Other proposed services include nursing, “physical, occupational, and speech therapies as needed,” crisis intervention, transportation services, and “modifications to the home or vehicle to enhance accessibility and safety.” Services should “assist consumers to meld into their community while allowing them to build skills for independent living.”
Basic skills taught will include “personal hygiene, dressing, environmental health functions, feeding, health related tasks, nutrition, and use of assistive devices.”
Part of the project will include “group homes” with “up to four individuals per home.” Those in the program have typically shown symptoms of autism, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, and/or “any condition, other than mental illness, found to be closely related to intellectual disabilities.”
The company will need to hire staff “that provide supervision, training, and professional support to IDD Waiver participants. Services will be rendered in home settings, the community, and at job sites.”
The application also states that the geographic range of services will include Pendleton, Hardy, Grant, Pocahontas, and Randolph counties.
Liberty Community Programs articulated the need for its programs in the Mountain State. It shared that in 2019, the West Virginia Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Waiver program served 3,867 adults, but that “there were 1,068 individuals on the IDDW waitlist as of December 2019” and that “staffing challenges have impacted service capacity in specific regions.”
For example, “in 2022, EnCircle operated seven group homes in Martinsburg, serving 27 individuals, but faced difficulties due to staffing shortages.”
According to a State agency website, West Virginia’s Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities Waiver (IDDW) “program is for children and adults with disabilities. The program provides services that help to teach, train, support, guide and assist members reach the highest level of independence possible in their lives.”
One of the primary goals lies in fostering life skills “in homes and areas where the member lives, works, and shops instead of in Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.”
The program focuses on individuals from three years and age up who demonstrate difficulties in three of these six fundamental areas: self-care, language and communication, learning, the ability to move around freely, the ability to make good decisions about themselves, or the ability to live alone.
Since its closure approximately a decade ago, much has been made of the potential of the base to provide service in some area. Previous proposals have included a women’s prison, a foster care education center, a veterans’ care facility, mental health facility, and even a holding area for illegal immigrant children.
Some of these proposals attracted some controversy due to concerns over the populations potentially served there. Liberty Community Programs’ proposal, however, should not stoke concerns due to the nature of the population it proposes to serve.
