Along with four other group homes in the area, the Kearsley group home in Sicklerville, New Jersey, is scheduled to be shut down this January. If this happens, my beloved son Aidan and 23 other individuals with special needs will be displaced and forced through an agonizing transition process.
A Letter of Hope
In an effort to prevent the closing of these group homes, I have sent the following out to every NJ Legislator, Disability Rights of NJ, Autism NJ, New Jersey Council for Developmental Disabilities, Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), the Division of Children and Family Services (DCF), Children’s System of Care (CSOC), the Governor’s Office, Easter Seals NJ:
As you know, I am the mother of Aidan Burke, who is 18 years old and severely developmentally disabled. He has severe autism and is non-verbal, has epilepsy, Di George Syndrome, bipolar depression, severe verbal and global apraxia, severe sensory integration disorder, severe OCD, and severe anxiety. Aidan requires 24-hour care. A staff member sits at the end of his bed every night to ensure he does not have a seizure. My son is still in diapers and cannot do anything independently, and requires one-to-one care.
I placed Aidan at the Kearsley group home in Sicklerville, NJ, three and a half years ago. In the past three and a half years, my son has thrived and flourished there. He went into the group home weighing 264 pounds at 5 foot 4 inches tall. He has lost 119 pounds and is the healthiest he has ever been in his entire life. He learned to sleep in his bed in a bedroom for the first time in his life and sleeps through the night. He is finally learning to communicate on a talker, and for the first time in his life, he can tell us how he feels. In addition, he is learning to go to the bathroom independently. He has made amazing progress at his home and is simply my miracle. He has consistency and routine and goes to one of the top autism schools in NJ. The residential staff supervisor, as well as the other staff, love my son as if he was their own and take great care of him as if I were doing it myself. I have peace of mind that my son is safe, healthy, and happy where he lives, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
With that being said, I received a phone call this past Friday night from Lisa Nocera, the VP at Oaks, and Mary Bliven, the Director at Oaks. They informed me that my son’s group is closing as well as four other group homes in that area. A total of 24 kids will be taken out of their homes and need to be placed in other group homes in this state. I was told the reason is due to a lack of staffing. Oaks will be closing these homes in January of 2022. This decision makes no sense to me because the Kearsley group home is fully staffed, and they just hired several other staff members for my son’s group home. There is no reason why my son’s group home should be closed.
Furthermore, as we all know, there are no available group home placements in this state as it is. I, of all people, know this because I am a special needs attorney, and one of my main areas of practice is residential group home placements. How are 24 kids going to be placed into other group homes in this state? Oaks will be uprooting their lives, their schools, and their friends at their homes. Kids living in the same group home will be separated. This is cruel and unusual punishment. These kids have severe developmental disabilities. That is the whole reason they live in group homes to begin with. I am fighting for my son and all 23 other kids to keep these group homes open. As you may recall, in July 2020, Oaks told me that they were closing my son’s group home as well as four other group homes due to a lack of funding from the state. I was instrumental in advocating to keep my son’s group home and the other homes open. I was successful in doing that. I need your help so we can keep these group homes open again. This is an urgent matter for the most vulnerable population in this state.
Spread The Word
Everyone I sent this letter to supports keeping these group homes open except the DCF and CSOC. I urge you to share this letter with your local New Jersey legislator, whose contact information can be found here. Post this on social media, share it with your friends and family. Every bit of added awareness helps. I will never stop fighting for my son or anyone else who requires adequate and legally guaranteed state support to thrive.