Some Parents Fight to Keep Children at Camarillo, Others Ready to Move

Racing against a fast-closing deadline, only about 30 parents of Camarillo State Hospital patients had signed up Wednesday to delay their children’s transfer to other facilities until a judge decides whether to temporarily halt the impending closure of the mental institution.

With a hearing on that issue scheduled for May 14 and patient transfers set to begin later this month, state officials had given parents until the end of the day Wednesday to ask for such delays.

But as that deadline approached, few parents had taken advantage of the state’s offer.

Calabasas attorney Ron Gold, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of parents seeking to block the hospital’s closure, said he eventually expects more than 100 patients--through their parents or guardians--to ask to stay put until the issue is settled.

And he said he expects the state to honor those requests, even if they trickle in after Wednesday’s deadline.

“There was just no way we could contact all of the parents and let them know this option was available,” Gold said. “I believe the deadline will be extended or we will go to court to get it extended.”

The Wednesday deadline stems from a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that the planned closure of the state hospital would violate state and federal law, and cause irreparable harm to the facility’s 650 developmentally disabled and mentally ill clients.

The suit seeks a temporary court order immediately blocking the closure and all patient transfers until a hearing can be held on those larger issues.

Last week, state officials agreed to delay the transfer of any patient who requests it until a judge decides whether to grant the temporary order.

While those requests will have no effect on how long the state hospital ultimately stays open, some parents seized the opportunity to keep their sons and daughters at the facility as long as possible.

“I have requested that my daughter remain at Camarillo until forced to leave,” said Camarillo resident Reva Shpiner, whose mentally ill daughter had been scheduled to transfer to another facility at the end of the month as part of the state hospital’s closure.

“It could be that we’re just buying time,” she added. “But I won’t give up until the last minute.”

Other parents, however, have chosen to hold to the transfer schedule, allowing their sons and daughters to be funneled to other state facilities as planned, starting later this month.

John Chase, spokesman for the Greenline Parents Group, said about 40 parents voted overwhelmingly over the weekend to allow the transfers to proceed as scheduled.

Chase said it’s not that the parents are not supportive of the lawsuit, brought by the Greenline group and Family and Advocates of the Mentally Ill. But he said many parents, recognizing that the legal challenge is a longshot, are fearful of upsetting arrangements they have made with other state facilities to care for their loved ones when Camarillo State shuts down.

“There is no hesitation or reluctance to go forward with the case,” said Chase, whose daughter is scheduled to transfer April 30 to a Costa Mesa developmental center along with all the other patients in her unit.

“But the thinking was that to interfere with the very careful and elaborate planning that has been made for this transition would probably me more damaging than bringing them back should we ultimately prevail,” Chase continued. “Now, if they want to halt the whole process that’s OK. But that decision is not up to us, it’s up to the state.”

State officials said Wednesday it is too early to tell exactly how the transfer process will be affected by requests for delays.

“Once we have all the names, we’ll have to look at how that fits with the mix of people we have and what the current schedule is,” said James Rogers, chief of the state Department of Developmental Services in Sacramento. “We will be looking at that over the next couple of days before we make a decision on how to proceed.”