Pennsylvania Legislative Analysis Recommends Consolidating The Five Residential Centers For People With Intellectual Disabilities

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) should do more to consolidate the five remaining residential centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities and restrict new admissions to one or two designated centers. The centers, located in White Haven, Hamburg, Selinsgrove, Polk, and Ebensburg, house nearly 1,000 residents. The White Haven and Hamburg facilities each have fewer than 150 residents.

In 2014-15, expenditures at state centers averaged $330,223 per resident, seven times the average cost of care for residents in community settings. The center costs accounted for 11% of the state’s expenditures for services for people with . . .