Fighting on for Murray Center

The campaign to save Murray Developmental Center in Centralia continues in the wake of a three-day hearing last month where the Murray Parents Association, with strong support from AFSCME, argued forcefully for keeping the facility open.

AFSCME and the MPA are working to convince the Quinn administration that closing Murray Center is not possible or desirable. The administration postponed its plan to close the facility on Nov. 30 and it remains operational for now.

Closing Murray Center would displace 230 people with developmental disabilities. The state wants to move those individuals into privately-operated group homes. Some Murray Center residents have already been placed in such homes. But the families and guardians of those who remain say that such homes lack the supports that their loved ones need.

AFSCME members have provided affidavits and court testimony supportive of the MPA, which helped convince a federal judge to keep in place a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing any resident movement out of the Center without guardian approval. At the January hearing, Judge Aspen indicated he is likely to rule on the MPA’s request for a preliminary injunction in March at the earliest. DHS has no new closure date set, pending the judge’s decision.

AFSCME members are also involved in state court action, where a Guardian Ad Litem has been appointed to oversee any movement out of Murray by state wards.

Council 31 staff are also pursuing a grievance to ensure that – despite an attempt to use a private contractor to short-circuit communications – AFSCME bargaining unit members can keep Murray families fully informed of their rights. Only about 30 individuals have been moved out of the center in the past 18 months.