By Rick Hiduk
Wyoming County Commissioners were among those in attendance at a board meeting of Luzerne/Wyoming County Mental Health and Disabilities Services in Tunhannock held last Thursday afternoon. They hoped to hear some viable options for more than 40 local clients of United Disabilities Services (URS), which has announced that it is leaving its facilities in Tunkhannock and others in Luzerne County on June 18.
The announcement came as a shock to employees, client families, and associated providers and dominated the conversations at an April 10. Facilitators at the annual meeting, which is geared towards getting a handle on the evolving needs of MH/DS clients in the area, were described as “taken aback” by the news and did not have the answers that some 100 people in attendance were seeking.
“We all care very deeply about what happens to URS up there,” said Commissioner Tom Henry at a regular meeting of the commissioners held on April 22. Henry is a member of the MH/DS board.
“The clients and the employees up there are like family,” Commissioner Ron Williams added. “They are very close.”
At the commissioners meeting, Lori Bennett of Evans Falls, a URS employee and client parent, questioned the commissioners as to where the clients might go if the facility was to shut down entirely.
“If nobody bids on the Wyoming County site, do you have a game plan for 40 displaced clients?” she asked.
“There are some things in the works at the administrative office,” Williams replied. “We want to see some continuity. We don’t want their services disrupted.”
Henry noted that MH/DS, which has new interim directors, had recently agreed to holding some of its periodic meetings in Wyoming County after many years of holding them only in Luzerne County. He said that he looked forward to hosting the meeting in the commissioners office at the courthouse and invited Bennett to attend.
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