State Rep. Staneski Tours Orange's Oak Hill House

From Connecticut General Assembly:

In order to become better informed about the state services available to individuals with intellectual disabilities, State Rep. Pam Staneski (Milford and Orange) spent some time touring the Oak Hill House in Orange, which is a group home that houses three individuals with intellectual disabilities with supervision by staff and nurses.

Oak Hill is a community provider with the State of Connecticut’s Departments of Developmental Services, Social Services and Children and Families. Oak Hill is a private organization that provides community-based housing programs for people with disabilities that include employment training, education, assistive technology and recreation.

Staneski toured the home with Stan Soby, vice president of public policy and external affairs for Oak Hill, and was told that Oak Hill relies in-state funding, which has been cut every year for the past 10 years.

Staneski said, “I was highly impressed with the home and staff and their level of service. Oak Hill is far more cost effective than most of our state-run programs. Having a public-private partnership is a benefit to both sides, the state and the client.

Additionally, Staneski learned that Oak Hill is a large supporter of results-based accountability methods as she is when it comes to what services are provided and using data metrics to determine whether the services are adequate and work.

Staneski also met with Sharon Spicer, who is one of the rotating nurses on staff at Oak Hill. She is on call 24 hours, five days per week at four Oak Hill group homes, including the Orange home and Ivette Vasquez, who is the manager of this the Orange group home.

Further information is available through the Connecticut General Assembly website.