November 9, 2007
New MDC Facility Open House Next Week
WHO: The Montana Developmental Center (MDC) is hosting an open house at the recently completed Assessment and Stabilization Unit in Boulder, Mont. Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 from 1 – 3 p.m. MDC is a residential facility that currently provides care for 63 individuals with developmental disabilities and is managed by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS).
WHAT: The Assessment and Stabilization Unit will house persons with developmental disabilities, some with a criminal background. Those who will occupy the new four-building facility are people determined by MDC staff to currently pose a potential risk to other residents and staff, as well as the people of Boulder.
Although the new facility includes additional security features than those found throughout the rest of the MDC campus, superintendent Kathy Zeeck said the focus is still on treatment.
“Residents will be able to go outside to recreate inside a fenced area and some will be allowed to leave the site under close supervision for work or other activities,” she said.
Security measures include a 10-foot high chain link fence that encloses all four buildings and a video surveillance system. Also, a staff of 32 will provide 24-hour 7-day-a-week care. Three of the buildings are 1,900-square-foot cottages that will house the residents and the other building is a 3,100-square-foot treatment/administrative building.
An official opening date is pending final inspection by the Quality Assurance Division.
The 2005 Legislature allocated $2.5 million for the new facility. Construction began in December 2006.
Zeeck and Jeff Sturm, program director of the Developmental Disabilities Program of DPHHS, will both be available for interviews at the open house.
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007, 1 – 3 p.m.
WHERE: Boulder, Mont. on the MDC campus. Media and the general public are asked to check in at the main administration building next to the flag pole on Grizzly Drive at 1 p.m. The new facility is a short walk from the administration building.
For more information or directions to the MDC campus please call LeRoux at (406) 225-4471.
Page last updated: 11/09/2007
