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Saturday, February 21, 2004

Judge blocks transfer of residents from Fircrest

By ANGELA GALLOWAY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

A King County Superior Court judge yesterday temporarily blocked the state from forcibly transferring mentally disabled residents out of a state institution in Shoreline.

As part of an ongoing effort to downsize Fircrest, the state Department of Social and Health Services had planned to move four clients to another institution on Monday, and three more on Wednesday.

Now those transfers are on hold for at least a week. Judge Terry Lukens ordered DSHS to show cause in court on Friday why the restraining order should not be extended for a year.

A group of guardians of Fircrest residents and a state employee's unions sued the state in December to permanently block the downsizing. The guardians say that the facility best suits the care and geographic needs of their loved-ones at Fircrest, and that clients should not be involuntarily transferred to other facilities around the state.

A hearing on a motion for summary judgment on the lawsuit is also scheduled for Friday.

"We're just really pleased (with the restraining order) because we never understood why DSHS felt they had to rush ahead and start the transfers on Monday, when there's a court hearing just four days later to determine whether or not they have the legal authority to move them in the first place," said Maggie Brown, a spokeswoman for Friends of Fircrest.

The state budget approved last year by the Legislature and Gov. Gary Locke directs DSHS to transfer out more than 30 clients by the end of March, said Linda Rolfe, director of the DSHS' division of developmental disabilities.

So far, only 12 residents have been transferred. Ten clients went to a Pierce County institution, one to an institution outside Spokane and one to community placement.

Fircrest is one of five such state-run institutions for the developmentally disabled. The other four are in Buckley, Bremerton, Selah and Medical Lake.

P-I reporter Angela Galloway can be reached at 360-943-3990 or angelagalloway@seattlepi.com
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