Since the last post, there have been continuous small layoffs from Fernald, and transfers of residents from the four facilities slated to close to Wrentham and Hogan. The latest news I have heard is that DDS is planning to lay off some registered nurses, and they intend to close the day program at Fernald soon, which will mean the loss of the attendant vocational instructor positions.
There are of course delays in the master plan for facility closure. One of them is the slow pace of opening new group homes. Instead, it seems that the state is relying instead on natural attrition (i.e. death) and transfers to other facilities.
At Hogan, the state has spent a lot of money renovating offices, but has not done the same for the residences. I worry about the future welfare of those who are in the facilities and have a lot of medical problems. DDS is more than ever a rigid bureaucracy where policy gets made by a small clique at the top and orders get handed down from the top, with no real right of guardians to affect decisions.