HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION OF THE SOUTHBURY TRAINING SCHOOL

MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to improve the quality of life for the individuals living at Southbury Training School, preserve their home, and expand the facility’s role in Connecticut’s continuum of care for individuals with I/DD.

STS
STS opened in 1940. The Home and School Association of STS (H&S) was formed in 1953 by parents of STS residents to promote their happiness and welfare.
In 1986 the Connecticut legislature passed a law prohibiting new admissions to STS. Despite STS’s diminishing population, H&S and has been active for nearly 70 years. We have provided holiday gifts to residents, supported parties and concerts, and organized and paid for music and movement sessions. We actively seek to keep STS open and to permit additional individuals to move to STS and benefit from the high level of care it provides.
STS residents constitute a small part of the larger population of people with I/DD. We believe that everyone with I/DD should be able to choose type of care they receive – at home with family, in apartments or shared living arrangements, in the community, or, at a facility like STS if they are severely disabled.

The Crisis in Connecticut
In 1986, when the STS population was over 1,000 and while Connecticut was negotiating a consent decree with the Department of Justice that prohibited new admissions to STS until it was terminated in 2009, the Connecticut legislature inserted a provision prohibiting new admissions to STS into an appropriations bill. That law is still in effect.
On October 18, 2020, there were 156 aging STS residents. As the population dwindles at STS, the waiting list for placement of other I/DD individuals in Connecticut continues to grow. In June 2020, the waiting list was over 2,000 individuals. Approximately 100 of these individuals are considered "emergency", meaning they need immediate placement and over 800 are considered "urgent" meaning they require placement within a year. Those placements are not taking place. Some families have waited 25 years or more to find a suitable living arrangement for their loved ones, such as those available at STS. In addition, nearly 300 I/DD individuals in Connecticut are living in nursing homes, which are not staffed to provide appropriate care. Even so, new admissions at STS remain closed.

We recognize that staffing is a problem across settings. Direct-support professionals, especially those in private, community-based homes, are often underpaid, leading to high turnover and poorer care. In addition to our advocacy for STS, we support increasing DSP pay and improving care across the DDS system.

Our Choice for Quality of Life and Care
for I/DD Loved Ones
There is a crisis in Connecticut concerning long-term care and quality-of-life support services for people with I/DD. Thousands of I/DD individuals are waiting for residential placement in a group home environment – some for as long as 25 years. They, and their care-giving families, are aging. There are also younger families with I/DD children who are facing an uncertain future in finding long-term, quality care solutions for their loved ones.
We are advocates for our loved ones living at STS. We have a choice. We can move our loved ones into an uncertain group-home environment or they can age in place within the safe environment of STS. We have chosen STS.

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The STS Home and School Association seeks to protect the interests of I/DD individuals in Connecticut by advocating for their right to long-term, quality-of-life care and services at the Southbury Training School.

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I/DD
The nature and extent of disabilities of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) vary widely. Some individuals can live full and rewarding lives with minimal support, while others need extensive full-time care. All I/DD individuals deserve the support and care that is appropriate for their needs.
Southbury Training School (STS) provides exceptional care to many I/DD individuals in Connecticut. We seek to ensure that STS continues to do so, and is enabled to provide specialized and supportive care to more individuals and families.

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We work in partnership with VOR,
a national organization that advocates for high quality care and human rights for I/DD individuals.
Learn More

Please enjoy this video tribute to the employees of Southbury Training School, posted during the Covid pandemic.