citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18484740&BRD=225 -
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Published on: 6/16/2007
Last Visited: 6/17/2007
In his keynote address, guest speaker Eugene Bianco, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, spoke of the horrible conditions of state homes in the 1970s.
Today, however, Bianco noted that more than 23,000 individuals with mental retardation are living in community residences throughout Pennsylvania, with only 1,300 in state centers as compared to nearly 41,000 in 1955.
Of the 23,000, the overwhelming majority do their own errands (97 percent), choose how to spend their free time (93 percent) and report satisfaction with their lives (90 percent).
"Step By Step is an essential part of this state's stunning history of transforming the lives of so many people with disabilities," Bianco said.