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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. 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. Get Involved/Take Action
Go to Take Action Become a Member/Donate Go to Membership/Donate 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. Contact Us Go to Contact Us |
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. Like Home & School on Facebook:
Remembering
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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
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. We can't be more grateful to them for their dedication during this crisis.
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Covid-19 at STS
COVID-19 CAME
COVID-19 first appeared on the campus on March 30.
STS Director Eugene Harvey began implementing precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in early March. TCOVID-19 first appeared on the campus on March 30.
STS Director Eugene Harvey began implementing precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in early March. These included restricting staff members to a single cottage and minimizing the number of cottages in which nurses work. In addition, all campus and community recreational activities were discontinued, no visitors, including family members and guardians, were permitted on campus, and all quarterly and annual IP meetings were being held remotely. Only off-grounds medical appointments deemed critical by the medical staff were allowed and only on-grounds specialty clinic appointments deemed necessary to maintain residents’ health were taking place, and only in a staggered fashion to prevent infection. All on- and off-grounds day programs were cancelled.
Instructions on preventative measure i.e., hand washing, social distancing etc. were given to all staff and an intensive cleaning schedule with a bleach solution was initiated on all three shifts.
Temperatures of both staff and residents were, and still are, taken twice each shift. Staff with a temperature of 100.4 or higher were not permitted to work with residents and were sent home. All staff wore masks and gloves and, if they were in contact with anyone who has tested positive or was getting CPAP or nebulizer treatment, N95 masks, eye protection and gowns.
Shortly after COVID appeared at STS, due to a cluster of positive tests in Cottage 36, its residents were moved to Cottage 30 for easier social distancing. There were four common areas in Cottage 30 and there was only one in Cottage 36. That move is permanent. The move to 30 from 36 was accomplished in 4 hours!
Two empty residential cottages, 16 and 36, were reopened as isolation units for COVID positive residents. Cottage 4, formally a day program location, was opened as a person under investigation (PUI) unit for residents with symptoms while they awaited the outcome of their tests. Cottage 15 was reopened as a step-down unit for residents who had finished their 14-day quarantine in a COVID positive Isolation Unit. Residents remained there for an additional 14-days or until they received two negative COVID test results.
STS is very fortunate to have buildings available for isolation of affected residents and that the maintenance staff and others worked diligently to effect the moves.
Volunteer Services paid for staff to purchase additional TV’s, so all of the rooms in the isolation cottages have TV’s.
Thousands of old N95 masks were refurbished and allocated to our Staff. In addition, hundreds of cloth masks were made for use by both residents and staff. STS has had enough gowns, masks, gloves and eye protection throughout the pandemic
Nineteen residents who tested positive during the Spring later tested negative (after 2 tests) and returned to their cottages. There were no new positive tests of STS residents between April 11 and November 20 (see below). Fifteen staff, including 6 nurses, tested positive during that period and there were 3 staff deaths.
Everyone from STS Director Harvey on down is committed to keeping our loved ones safe and healthy. The entire staff deserves great commendation.
FIRST REOPENING
When the first wave ended in mid-June 2020, a slow reopening phase began which included on grounds visits with families at designated locations and residents were also permitted to visit family members in their homes when accompanied by a staff member. The dental and medical clinics re-opened and our Residents were able to travel into the community, in a limited fashion, for recreation.
SECOND WAVE
By the later part of November, however, the anticipated second wave came and shut the campus was shut down for a second time on November 25, 2020. During this phase, in addition to the steps taken during the first wave. Several initiatives were introduced. Cottage 32 was reopened as a Symptomatic PUI Unit, thus giving STS both a symtomatic PUI and a non- symtomatic PUI. The base employee mask was upgraded from a surgical mask to a KN95 for all staff and weekly testing of all staff was initiated. In addition, the hours of medical staff on campus were temporarily increased from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm to 8:00 am – 8:30 pm Monday through Friday. All Staff accompanying residents to area hospitals are given full PPE (N95 mask, gown, etc.) and all residents admitted to hospitals, visiting an emergency room or having one day surgery are required to be quarantine for 14 days and to have had two negative COVID tests before they can return home.
Vaccinations at STS began in January and were given very expeditiously. As of March 2, all residents who had Guardian permission (99%) were given the Pfizer vaccine and 60% of staff received the Moderna vaccine. Nearly all have had the second shot.
As of March 2, there has not been one positive COVID case among residents since January 5. That individual is asymptomatic, as is usual after the vaccine, and probably caught the virus from an employee.
SLOW REOPENING STARTING NOW
Family visits on campus will start on March 6 and the clinics are will reopen shortly thereafter. STS plans to move very cautiously toward other reopening steps as the situation with new variants of the virus becomes better understood.
You can be in touch with your STS resident by calling the cottage and asking if a staff member can connect you to your resident. All cottages now have tablets and internet access to permit video calls.
COVID-19 first appeared on the campus on March 30.
STS Director Eugene Harvey began implementing precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in early March. TCOVID-19 first appeared on the campus on March 30.
STS Director Eugene Harvey began implementing precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in early March. These included restricting staff members to a single cottage and minimizing the number of cottages in which nurses work. In addition, all campus and community recreational activities were discontinued, no visitors, including family members and guardians, were permitted on campus, and all quarterly and annual IP meetings were being held remotely. Only off-grounds medical appointments deemed critical by the medical staff were allowed and only on-grounds specialty clinic appointments deemed necessary to maintain residents’ health were taking place, and only in a staggered fashion to prevent infection. All on- and off-grounds day programs were cancelled.
Instructions on preventative measure i.e., hand washing, social distancing etc. were given to all staff and an intensive cleaning schedule with a bleach solution was initiated on all three shifts.
Temperatures of both staff and residents were, and still are, taken twice each shift. Staff with a temperature of 100.4 or higher were not permitted to work with residents and were sent home. All staff wore masks and gloves and, if they were in contact with anyone who has tested positive or was getting CPAP or nebulizer treatment, N95 masks, eye protection and gowns.
Shortly after COVID appeared at STS, due to a cluster of positive tests in Cottage 36, its residents were moved to Cottage 30 for easier social distancing. There were four common areas in Cottage 30 and there was only one in Cottage 36. That move is permanent. The move to 30 from 36 was accomplished in 4 hours!
Two empty residential cottages, 16 and 36, were reopened as isolation units for COVID positive residents. Cottage 4, formally a day program location, was opened as a person under investigation (PUI) unit for residents with symptoms while they awaited the outcome of their tests. Cottage 15 was reopened as a step-down unit for residents who had finished their 14-day quarantine in a COVID positive Isolation Unit. Residents remained there for an additional 14-days or until they received two negative COVID test results.
STS is very fortunate to have buildings available for isolation of affected residents and that the maintenance staff and others worked diligently to effect the moves.
Volunteer Services paid for staff to purchase additional TV’s, so all of the rooms in the isolation cottages have TV’s.
Thousands of old N95 masks were refurbished and allocated to our Staff. In addition, hundreds of cloth masks were made for use by both residents and staff. STS has had enough gowns, masks, gloves and eye protection throughout the pandemic
Nineteen residents who tested positive during the Spring later tested negative (after 2 tests) and returned to their cottages. There were no new positive tests of STS residents between April 11 and November 20 (see below). Fifteen staff, including 6 nurses, tested positive during that period and there were 3 staff deaths.
Everyone from STS Director Harvey on down is committed to keeping our loved ones safe and healthy. The entire staff deserves great commendation.
FIRST REOPENING
When the first wave ended in mid-June 2020, a slow reopening phase began which included on grounds visits with families at designated locations and residents were also permitted to visit family members in their homes when accompanied by a staff member. The dental and medical clinics re-opened and our Residents were able to travel into the community, in a limited fashion, for recreation.
SECOND WAVE
By the later part of November, however, the anticipated second wave came and shut the campus was shut down for a second time on November 25, 2020. During this phase, in addition to the steps taken during the first wave. Several initiatives were introduced. Cottage 32 was reopened as a Symptomatic PUI Unit, thus giving STS both a symtomatic PUI and a non- symtomatic PUI. The base employee mask was upgraded from a surgical mask to a KN95 for all staff and weekly testing of all staff was initiated. In addition, the hours of medical staff on campus were temporarily increased from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm to 8:00 am – 8:30 pm Monday through Friday. All Staff accompanying residents to area hospitals are given full PPE (N95 mask, gown, etc.) and all residents admitted to hospitals, visiting an emergency room or having one day surgery are required to be quarantine for 14 days and to have had two negative COVID tests before they can return home.
Vaccinations at STS began in January and were given very expeditiously. As of March 2, all residents who had Guardian permission (99%) were given the Pfizer vaccine and 60% of staff received the Moderna vaccine. Nearly all have had the second shot.
As of March 2, there has not been one positive COVID case among residents since January 5. That individual is asymptomatic, as is usual after the vaccine, and probably caught the virus from an employee.
SLOW REOPENING STARTING NOW
Family visits on campus will start on March 6 and the clinics are will reopen shortly thereafter. STS plans to move very cautiously toward other reopening steps as the situation with new variants of the virus becomes better understood.
You can be in touch with your STS resident by calling the cottage and asking if a staff member can connect you to your resident. All cottages now have tablets and internet access to permit video calls.