State sued over Fircrest transfers

For the second time in 2 ½ years, the state has been sued over a decision to move residents out of the Fircrest School, an institution in Shoreline for the developmentally disabled.

The latest lawsuit, filed Wednesday on behalf of five former Fircrest residents and their guardians, claims that the state "willfully caused abuse and neglect of these vulnerable adults" by moving them about two years ago — as part of downsizing Fircrest — to Rainier School at Buckley, an institution in Pierce County.

Four of the five lived continuously at Fircrest for 39 years before being moved. The suit asks for unspecified monetary damages that would be put into a trust fund for the disabled plaintiffs and other residents at Rainier. The state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) said that these and other moves were well planned and that staffers at Fircrest and Rainier worked together to make the transitions smooth.

In all, the state says, about 50 residents were moved to different facilities or community settings, 19 of them involuntarily. Advocates for the Fircrest residents dispute that number and say many were coerced into accepting the decisions.

"Everybody who was moved out of Fircrest is receiving good care today," said Don Clintsman, assistant director for the state Division of Developmental Disabilities. "Everything I hear is that these people are all doing well."

The suit does not criticize the care provided by Rainier but does lay out details of the five plaintiffs' lives, pre- and post-move.

For example, 49-year-old Sandra Lamb had lived at Fircrest since she was 8. She has the communication skills of a toddler and suffers from seizures and other problems.

Before the move, the lawsuit said, Lamb participated in recreation and worked five days a week on the recycling pick-up crew. After the move to Rainier, she became violent, biting, hitting and kicking housemates and staff. She stopped showering, eating and working and refused her medications.

"Any one of us would be traumatized by moving from a residence where we lived for 40 years," said Jennifer Bosserman, attorney for the plaintiffs. "These people, because of their developmental disabilities, are all the more fragile and are all the more likely to be severely traumatized by this kind of a move."

The lawsuit argues the state knew this and moved them anyway.

The moves stemmed from a legislative directive in 2003 to downsize Fircrest, one of five institutions statewide for the developmentally disabled. It came at a time of building momentum to close the institution altogether, in part because of a trend toward moving the disabled into the community.

A prior lawsuit, filed in December 2003, attempted to block the moves but was unsuccessful.

At the time, some legislators argued that moving residents out of Fircrest, which costs about $400 per resident per day, would save the state money. Since the per-diem cost at all five institutions is about the same, potential savings could come from such things as foregoing capital improvements, said Kari Burrell, a policy adviser for the governor.

The overall population at the five state institutions is now 946, a decline since 2004 of about 50.

The plan to close Fircrest is on hold for the moment, although Burrell said it could be considered by future legislatures. Involuntary moves out of Fircrest have stopped, Clintsman said, because the legislative directive "no longer exists."

A panel was formed last year to study the issue but came to no conclusion, and has since been disbanded by the governor.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com