February 10, 2015
State Representatives Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford, Manchester), Jeff Currey (D-East Hartford, Manchester, South Windsor) and Kelly Luxenberg (D-Manchester) issued the following statement Tuesday on congregate-care facilities and their potential impact on Manchester.
“We want to express our disappointment with the politicization and mishandling of the group home concerns in Manchester by some members of the town’s Board of Directors. It seems that some prefer to continue recycling a news story about the alleged impact of group homes on Manchester out of political expediency and opportunism. As has been stated by local news media numerous times, there is legislation pending before the General Assembly and it is working its way through the process. House Bill 5618, AN ACT CONCERNING COMMUNITY-BASED RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES, and House Bill 6483, AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY GROUP HOME DISTRIBUTION, will be discussed Wednesday, Feb. 13, at a public hearing of the Planning and Development Committee. The hearing begins at 11 a.m.
“A resolution by the Manchester Board of Directors will have no impact, negative or positive, on the legislation or on how we vote. We welcome a productive conversation about the concerns that have been expressed about emotionally disturbed calls from institutions in Manchester. We would also point out that there is very little data or merit in the Mayor's Task Force ‘Report on Emotionally Disturbed Person Calls’ that supports the Board of Directors narrow focus on group homes. The board has essentially ignored five of the six recommendations provided by the consultants and the findings in the report should be interpreted with caution and skepticism, as the report itself asserts that many of its data points may be flawed. Let’s allow the legislative process to work and let’s engage in a thoughtful discussion on this so that we can determine whether the recommendations merit becoming law.”