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Yesterday two armed individuals- a man and woman- entered Inland Regional Center- one of California’s 21 non-profit regional centers- and opened fire. The entire developmental services community has rallied around regional center employees, families, and people with developmental disabilities as their safety is our paramount concern.

While  there were no known threats against other regional centers, out of an abundance of caution, eight centers closed early yesterday and NBRC employed additional security. Today we know that no Inland Regional Center employees nor individuals receiving services were harmed, but our hearts are heavy knowing innocent lives were cut short. Regional centers are places that connect families and people with developmental disabilities to their communities, and safety and health is paramount to our service system. While any act of violence is a tragedy, in a place focused on services to people with developmental disabilities, it is even harder to comprehend.
“ARCA, the regional centers, and the developmental disabilities community are united in mourning and support. The victims of today’s shooting were connected to us by service to those in need. Our hearts are with all those affected,” said Anne Struthers, President of the Association of Regional Centers (ARCA) Board of Directors.

Saturday morning at Vintage House, more than 200 people gathered to share their ideas on the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center, bringing with them their thoughts, experience and passion. It marked the first stage of a year-long process to gather public input to “Transform SDC” – and determine the future of the 120-year-old state-run health-care center and its 950-acre property, dedicated to the least able in our population. Read more.

The Sonoma Developmental Center has been the focus of a series of patient abuse scandals over the years. Credit: Monica Lam for CIR

Abuse, neglect and lack of supervision at California’s state-run homes for the developmentally disabled have directly caused the deaths of 13 people since 2002, newly released records from the state Department of Public Health show.

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Kaiser Permanente is about to begin what is believed to be the largest genetic research project ever conducted by a health organization into the causes of autism, gathering biological and other health information from 5,000 Northern California families who have a child with the developmental disorder.

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