Government is pulling the plug on funding for the residential facility for the learning disabled, reallocating it instead to St. Brendan?s Hospital.

St. Brendan?s will work in conjunction with fundraising group Project 100 to provide small residential care facilities with programmes for the learning disabled. Hope Homes and the Ministry of Health have been facing off since Government was forced to remove Hope Homes clients from the organisation?s Brunswick Street facility to re-house them in Lefroy House in Dockyard.

?Everyone will recall that it was as a consequence of the inability of the administrators of Hope Homes to maintain the Brunswick St. facility that the building was deemed to be unsuitable for residential purposes,? Health Minister Patrice Minors said in a press statement yesterday.

?The Ministry of Health and Family Services intervened to provide assistance by securing the Lefroy House location as a temporary, rent free, residential accommodation until Hope Homes restored the Brunswick facility to an acceptable level.

?Three years have now passed. At a most recent meeting, Ben Nunn, spokesperson for the Board of Hope Homes said that the Board is currently undertaking the renovations needed at the Brunswick St. building, and that he envisaged that the facility will have met requirements for re-occupancy by the clients in five to six weeks. Hope Homes is yet to provide the Ministry with any formal evidence to support such. Meanwhile the clientele are in less than adequate accommodations.?

Hope Homes does have architectural plans for the renovations of their facility, as well as plans for a gift shop selling goods made by residents in order to further boost the income of the organisation.

However at meetings in July and August Project 100 put forward a proposal to decrease residential numbers to six or seven per accommodation unit as part of deinstitutionalisation.

Though Hope Homes currently houses 14, Government believes with Project 100 in the concept of smaller homes, Mrs. Minors said.

Project 100 had inquired about the possibility of selling Hope Homes? Brunswick Street location and purchasing two smaller homes to house the 14 residents.

?At this point no formal response has been provided to the Ministry from the Hope Homes Board on any of the proposals put forward,? Mrs. Minors said.

?The Minister is committed to act in the best interest of the learning disabled clients of Hope Homes. Whilst the co-operation of Hope Homes would definitely lend to an expedient solution, given the current conditions the residents are facing, the Ministry cannot afford to delay this matter further.?

The Health Ministry has contacted the Ministry of Works and Engineering in hopes of identifying any government properties that can be made available, Mrs. Minors continued.

?Project 100 has given assurance that if Government provides the property they are prepared to renovate and maintain those properties for the intended purpose of residences for the learning disabled.?

Additionally the Ministry has engaged St. Brendan?s Hospital to provide the programme management component for the residential facilities ? and are reallocating to St. Brendan?s funds previously granted to Hope Homes.

?The Ministry is also preparing an informational letter for the guardians of the current clients of Hope Homes advising in more detail where the Ministry is headed in this regard and what options are available to their wards,? Mrs. Minors said.

?We would emphasise that the approach described above has little if anything to do with Hope Homes and their status in the eyes of those within the community, but that the focus is purely on the well-being of the learning disabled individuals currently situated at Lefroy House.?

Chairman of the Hope Homes Board Alan Robinson declined to comment last night, but promised a statement would be made sometime today.