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MVDC employees stage informational picket (June 27, 2007 - Mount Vernon New)

OVH Info Picket: Union members, supporters say vets are getting the short end of the bargain (June 27, 2009 - Sandusky Register)

Union calls for increased staffing, training at
Mount Vernon Developmental Center

For immediate release:  June 27, 2007

Mount Vernon – At today's informational picket, members of the state’s largest employee union, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, said increased demand on staff due to new court-ordered admissions are putting the health and safety of all the residents at the center at risk.

Over the last year, Mount Vernon DC has been receiving from the court new involuntary admissions who are often aggressive or violent and who may have a history of criminal activity.

The new admissions often require enhanced staff-to-client ratios – such as three staff to one client – which are draining staff from other areas of the center and causing widespread mandatory overtime of existing employees, according to union members who provide direct care and supports to approximately 250 residents there.

“Such practices put at risk some of the other, long-time and medically fragile residents who require extra staff support, too” said Don Moxley, a union steward at the center.

While union employees at MVDC believe the center is the appropriate place for the new admissions, they are calling for increased staffing, enhanced training and the creation of a separate intake unit to ensure the safety of all the residents at the center.

The union says similar changes are taking place at the other nine state-operated developmental centers where admissions are coming from the courts and from private providers who do not have the resources to take care of these individuals.

“It’s all part of a plan to transition the developmental centers to Regional Resource Centers that assist county boards of mental retardation in taking care of hard-to-serve clients that private providers can’t serve,” said Monty Blanton, President of the union’s statewide MRDD Assembly. “We believe that we need more planning and a commitment of resources to make this transition to regional centers successful,” he added.

Union employees were joined at the picket by concerned community members, retirees, advocates and families.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association represents approximately 36,000 public employees, including approximately 370 Therapeutic Program Workers, Licensed Practical Nurses, and food service and maintenance staff who work at the Mount Vernon Developmental Center in Mount Vernon.

For more information, contact Sally Meckling, 614-865-2602 or 614-404-3881 (cell).

News Coverage and Videos

OVH Info Picket: Union members, supporters say vets are getting the short end of the bargain (June 27, 2009 - Sandusky Register)

MVDC employees stage informational picket (June 27, 2007 - Mount Vernon News)