Leverage Gained On Thrust To Repurpose The Stockley Center As Addiction Rehab Facility?

(WDEL) Tom Lehman reports ~ VIDEO: NCCo. Council wants Stockley Center to offer drug rehab

 Council passed a resolution Tuesday night asking the state to re-purpose the Stockley Center, a 750 acre medical facility located downstate near Millsboro, into a drug and alcohol treatment and rehab center. Councilman Jea Street (D-Wilmington South) said there's only one state-operated detox center on Kirkwood Highway that cannot serve the number of Delawareans struggling with drug or alcohol dependencies and abuse. "It's a major problem, a major challenge and I don't think we should turn our back and ignore it," Street said. "It's a problem we need to address. It's a conversation I think we need to have, and I think we need to have it state wide."
........The resolution is similar to one passed by Wilmington City Council encouraging the same actions last month. It also urged the state to hold hearings on drug and alcohol treatment in Delaware. The Stockley Center is located in the councilmanic district belonging to Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips (R-Laurel), who said Tuesday night he would need to hear more details on such a proposal before supporting it.

I thought yesterday's Delaware Voice editorial by two members of the Governor's "Stockley Initiative" sounded a bit defensive ~  Sen. Robert Venables, John Hollis: Stockley Initiative a chance for public to speak up

Delaware Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf brought together stakeholders beginning in 2010 to discuss the potential for expanded uses of the Stockley Center near Georgetown. Built in 1921, Stockley has transitioned from serving more than 700 residents with disabilities in the 1970s, to today meeting the health care and housing needs of more than 65 adults with developmental disabilities and their families.
The Stockley Center includes a state-of-the-art 50-bed skilled nursing facility and has residences for Delawareans with disabilities. It has a fully accessible, aquatic therapy facility, a full-size gymnasium, medical and dental offices, a computer training center, a chapel, a day care center, and is home to the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. Just down the road is Sussex Central High School.
Secretary Landgraf believes the state’s care facility and its more than 750 acres, including 307 acres designated as the Doe Bridge Nature Preserve, could serve an expanded purpose by helping to improve the health and well-being of the state’s residents, especially those in Sussex County. Along with the Secretary, we see Stockley as an asset that could be used to increase care and services for people with disabilities who live in the community, and also to promote physical activity, and health and wellness for the general community.
From the beginning, the process that Secretary Landgraf embraced has been one of openness and inclusion, forming an Advisory Group, with the two of us as co-chairs, to guide the development of a plan. The Advisory Group engaged state legislators, county leaders and everyone with an interest in leveraging Stockley’s resources to benefit a greater good. Every voice was encouraged and heard. Input was sought from stakeholders representing disability, medical, health and recreation groups, along with education, nonprofit, and state and local government officials. This breadth of involvement – critical to the Stockley Initiative – has been cheered by those who have participated. Participants know that while every idea won’t end up in the final plan, they appreciate the collaborative spirit of this process.
Working with Concept Systems Inc. and staff members at Stockley and DHSS, our Advisory Group sought ideas from the public. Almost 200 people offered their suggestions, and the ideas were plotted in a process called concept mapping, in which participants were asked to rate the ideas based on importance and feasibility.
The full report from the concept mapping is available here: http://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/main/pubs.html.
Throughout the process, the Advisory Group, Concept Systems and DHSS have embraced openness, along with a commitment to support Stockley’s original and continuing mission to serve individuals with disabilities.
In addition to seeking suggestions from residents, the Advisory Group has held periodic public updates and has placed materials on the DHSS website for review. During the past two years, statewide media have covered public meetings and done updates on the Stockley Initiative.
Over the past three months, a total of 43 individuals who were invited or asked to join four task forces – medical and health, learning and health, housing and infrastructure, and recreation and community – have been working to refine the original public ideas. With the help of Concept Systems, the task forces are drafting a report, “A Vision for the Stockley Center and Sussex County: Community Wellness through Health, Learning and Recreation” that will highlight a mix of those ideas.
We are grateful to Secretary Landgraf for the way she has involved stakeholders like us in the process. The Stockley Initiative shows the importance of listening to the people in order to maximize resources to serve the greatest number of Delawareans. We look forward to the next steps in the initiative, and, as always, we welcome your comments and your feedback.

So, there is a good chance then that this 2013 push by the New Castle County and Wilmington City Councils will be welcomed by the Stockley Advisory Group. Just sayin'.

And noted today ~ Correction - Delaware Voice: Delaware must expand its drug rehab programs

Gateway Foundation has no plans to close its substance abuse treatment program on the campus of the Governor Ba­con Health Facility, as Elizabeth Allen wrote in her June 29 Dela­ware Voice, “Delaware must ex­pand its drug rehab programs.”

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