Valley Ridge CIT

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A continuum of treatment

by: Tyler Murphy

The grounds at the secure disabilities treatment facility in Norwich are far more similar to a dormitory at a college campus than the stereotypical perception of bars and gates often portrayed.

“We are a treatment facility, not a correctional facility,” said Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment (CIT) Director Chuck Kearley.

The facility currently houses 60 residents, nearly all of them male except for a single female. Kearley said the center is capable of providing secure care for either sex even though almost all of the residents at the facility have been male.

Of the approximately 250 employees working at the site, over 200 of them live inside of the county – 80 percent of the workforce. “We employ a wide range of young professionals, doctors, psychologists, nurses, and a number of other positions,” said Kearley.

Kearley says staff morale is high at the CIT. The state-funded facility pays an entry level salary for several positions well above $10 an hour plus health and retirement benefits.

Leisa McKown works as an aide in one of the housing units at the facility. “I basically help them with their regular life functions. I cook, clean, do laundry and help the others do things for themselves,” said McKown.

McKown said she had been working at the center since it first opened. “I was here five years ago and watched the first person come in,” she said. The first residents arrived at the facility on April 20, 2002.

“At first I was unsure what to expect. I had no idea what I’d be doing. I enjoy my job and a lot of the people here are wonderful to work with,” said McKown.

Valley Ridge CIT is an secure intensive treatment facility operated by the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD).

OMRDD’s treatment programs offer clinical services ranging from basic living skills to intensive anger therapy and relapse prevention services. Some therapies have included community outings.

Kearley said he knows that the perception of the center in the public is often one of concern. “We are right across the street from the jail and people often think we’re just jail number two, but we are really very different. We treat people who are at the lowest point in their life. They need help in order to get back in control,” said Kearley.

The director explained there are a number of paths that could lead a person into becoming a “consumer” at the facility. “It can be court ordered, following a crime, the family could have raised concern and had them admitted, self admittance is rare, but happens. The only real commonality it that a person is a threat to themselves or others,” said Kearley.

The center works in close concert with OMRDD. Of the 60 developmentally disabled persons at the site, ranging in age from 18 to 35, nearly half are registered as Level 3 sex offenders.

Those who reside at the facility are called “consumers” by the state. They live in five housing units built apart from the main building with a courtyard between them. The residents receive regular clinical services ranging from basic living skills to intensive anger therapy and relapse prevention services. The staff-to-consumer ratio is nearly 4 to 1, said Kearley.

“This is the last stop. If no other facility can help someone, we are the one consumers get sent to. We exist in a continuum of treatment with our facility at the top. From here, treatment recedes into less intensive facilities until the consumer is prepared to go back to the regular population or be released into the public. It’s a challenging responsibility and we do everything we can to ensure the safety of our consumers, staff and the public. The long term solution to that end is continued treatment,” said Kearley.

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