Bellefontaine Supporters Make Case To Lawmakers

Citizens concerned about Governor Matt Blunt’s budget proposal to close the state-run Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis show up at a Missouri House hearing to express their views. The Center provides services to Missourians who are mentally ill and who suffer from developmental disabilities. Mickey Slawson, a parent of one of the Center’s patients and President of the Parents Association of Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, asks why this facility is being targeted. She suggests it would be wrong to have the residents moved to privately-run facilities because there is less regulation of those homes. If the Governor’s proposal is approved by the Legislature, the residents of the Center would be moved to private or other state facilities.