State legislators are hearing mixed opinions about a plan to shut down Yakima Valley School in Selah and Rainier School in Buckley, two state-run residential care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities.
The state House Early Learning and Human Services Committee heard testimony from people for and against HB 1472 on Thursday. The proposal would close the schools as part of efforts to address a budget gap and as part of a transition to state operated living alternatives, called SOLAs.
If the Yakima Valley School and Rainier School close, two state-run residential care facilities would remain: Fircrest School in Shoreline and Lakeland Village in Medical Lake. Fircrest School is planning to have additional capacity in 2027, and could accept current residents of Yakima Valley School and Rainier School, according to a state proposal.
A companion bill in the Senate, SB 5393, is in the Ways and Means Committee.
Yakima Valley School
Yakima Valley School opened in 1958, and is run by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. There have been multiple attempts to close it over the years. The school has a staff of about 260 and 37 long-term residents. The center also provides respite care and crisis stabilization beds. Its budget for 2025 is $29.3 million, according to DSHS.
Yakima-area lawmakers have voiced support for keeping the school. Republican Reps. Chris Corry, Jeremie Dufault, Deb Manjarrez and Gloria Mendoza are sponsors of HB 1908, which would keep Yakima Valley School and other residential care facilities open, and allow them to accept new residents.
Corry told the Yakima Herald-Republic that he would not consider the bill active now, but he is hopeful that Yakima Valley School will not be shut down.
He said that balancing the budget should not be done at the cost of care for vulnerable residents. “This seems like a shortsighted way to save a couple of dollars.”
Corry said the care that Yakima Valley School provides cannot be replicated in other settings, like state operated living alternatives, or SOLAs. He said that both residential care facilities and other options should be available to people with development disabilities and their families.
“I don’t think that community living is without its own problems and challenges,” he said.
State Sens. Nikki Torres and Curtis King also have supported keeping the school.
Smaller care centers
Proponents of the bill argue that shutting down the facilities will save the state money and help it move toward smaller, community-based centers of care, like SOLAs.
There is one SOLA in Yakima with a capacity of 30, Shipley said. It had 29 residents in December.
Speakers affiliated with disability rights groups encouraged lawmakers to close the facilities, including Disability Rights Washington, People First of Washington and The Arc of Washington.
Chloe Merino, an attorney for Disability Rights Washington, said the group supports the closure not just as a cost-saving measure, but also as a step toward de-institutionalization. She said that there have been many cases of abuse and subpar care at Rainier School.
The bill is “an opportunity to give the residents of Rainier School meaningful choice and self-determination to live free from abuse and neglect,” Merino said.
Rusty Allphin of Ellensburg testified that he has four friends who lived in Yakima Valley School who experienced or witnessed abuse there.
Hard to replace
Employees and guardians of people living in residential care facilities testified against the proposal. Many said that SOLAs and group homes cannot meet the needs of some individuals.
Willis McNabb said he has worked at Rainier School for 34 years and some residents are able to live better lives at the facility than in other settings.
“We are not talking about the old institutions of the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s,” McNabb said. Residential care facilities “provide a level of medical and behavioral support that are unmatched in the community.”
Julianne Moore, who has worked for Yakima Valley School for 35 years, said the facilities offers a culture of care.
The crisis stabilization the facility offers is important to the community, she said.
“Some of those people have lived there now seven years, because every time they go out, they come right back,” she said.
Union Gap Police Chief Gregory Cobb spoke against the closure of the facility.
Cobb said his department had received numerous calls about a man with autism whose parents have difficulty caring for him.
“When he is in his violent and destructive episodes, his caregivers fear for their safety and can’t live in the residence with (him),” Cobb said. “We’ve been told not to bring this individual to the hospital anymore.”
Closing the facility would mean a large gap in resources for people with behavioral issues, he said.
“The hospital is not the appropriate place for him, jail certainly is not the appropriate place for him,” he said. “Because of his violent tendencies, I don’t think a group home is going to work.”
