Lafayette residents air concerns about group homes

LAFAYETTE — Residents poured into the Lafayette Committee meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 7, expressing concerns after rumors surfaced of a violent person in a Lafayeette group home.

Attending the session to aide in those responses were members of the New Jersey Divison of Developmental Disabilities and the Devereux Foundation, the organization that runs a community-based home on Statesville Quarry Road.

The Devereux Foundation is a nonprofit health organization that supplies clinical, therapeutic, employment, and educational programs for the developmentally disabled, often through a group home setting.

“I keep hearing bits and pieces of what has been going on in this group home and that there is a possibility of another (client moving in)," resident Melissa Gaffney said. "I go online and they are looking to hire another person in this group home, and when you scroll to the bottom of the ad, it says you must be comfortable living with sex offenders and fire starters. It kind of verified the rumors that were going around and the concerns of who was housed in this home."

Gaffney goes on to express her safety concerns around the township, especially to children, and what sort of safety devices the home is equipped with.

Residents were reassured that all Devereux homes are licensed, inspected regularly, receive regular visits from case management, and a special operations unit is deployed to give unannounced check-ups.

“The home is not an open setting," said Leigh Yaw, vice president of the Devereaux Foundation. "There are currently three individuals residing at the home, with two professional staff members. The staff members do not sleep at night. Every door and window is secure. We have been running this program under the new clinical care director for the past seven years without one incident."

Resident Bill Ehrhardt said he lived on Statesville Quarry for 28 years and has seen state police on the road maybe four or five times.

"Three or four times in a month is a great increase to what we are used to," he said.

At the Lafayette home, three individuals reside with two around-the-clock staff members.

According to Lafayette EMS Captain John Strow, they have been deployed to the group home five times in a week’s time.

“The EMS and Fire Department reported three times in one day and two times during another day," Strow said. "During those incidents, the client had roamed off the property, had scissors taken away from him/her, and had grabbed a kitchen knife."

A matter of safety was of the utmost concern to the attending residents, and although these situations had occurred, Yaw reassured residents that they weren't in any danger.

“I just want to fall back on history, and mention that these are all legitimate concerns," she said. "We have been around for over 100 years and within the last seven years in the program model, we have not had one incident and no community members have ever been hurt."