01-04-2025
Rainier School is a home, not just a facility. WA lawmakers' proposed closure cruel
There's a deep sense of community at Rainier School.
For decades, it has been more than just a facility — it has been a home for individuals with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities, a place where they receive specialized care, structure and stability. Families rest easier knowing their loved ones are in an environment tailored specifically to their needs, supported by experienced staff who have dedicated their lives to this critical work.
Yet that sense of security is under threat from false promises of budget savings and overstated claims of available community placements.
House Bill 1472 and the proposed operating budget would mandate the closure of Rainier School by June 30, 2027, halting all new admissions immediately. On paper, the proposal promises millions in savings and smooth transitions into community-based services. In reality, viable community alternatives simply do not exist for the majority of Rainier's residents.
Rainier School serves as a safety net — often the last, best hope — for some of our state's most vulnerable individuals. Many residents have cycled through multiple community-based placements, each one tragically ending in failure. They've faced repeated hospitalizations, run-ins with law enforcement and emotional distress when the promised 'community care' couldn't meet their complex medical and behavioral needs.
These are not isolated incidents; this revolving door is tragically common.
One parent shared the heartbreaking story of their child's perilous experience outside Rainier. After moving to a community placement, the child's health rapidly declined due to inadequate support. In one terrifying incident, the lack of appropriate supervision led to a dangerous confrontation with law enforcement — an encounter that could have ended in tragedy. Returning to Rainier didn't just stabilize this individual; it most assuredly saved their life.
We've seen similar consequences from previous closures, such as the Frances Haddon Morgan Center. Residents did not smoothly transition to less costly community placements; many faced homelessness, emergency hospitalizations, or ended up in far more expensive crisis care. Some died. Promised budget savings turned into escalating expenses and, far worse, human suffering.
Moreover, Rainier School's staff provides specialized care and medical services unmatched elsewhere. These dedicated individuals possess decades of irreplaceable expertise, offering around-the-clock medical, dental and psychiatric care — critical support that isn't easily or quickly replicated elsewhere. Losing Rainier doesn't just remove housing; it dismantles an irreplaceable network of compassionate, highly trained professionals. It decimates a community.
Families consistently describe Rainier School as their lifeline, ensuring loved ones live with dignity, safety and stability. Removing this lifeline thrusts families into agonizing uncertainty. What happens to these families when the promised community-based placements fail yet again? How do we measure the emotional toll — the fear, anxiety and trauma inflicted by forcing vulnerable individuals from their homes?
Rather than closing Rainier School, we should invest in necessary improvements, strengthen oversight, and uphold the safety and dignity of its residents. This approach reflects true compassion and fiscal responsibility, acknowledging that human lives cannot be reduced to simple budgetary calculations.
Closing Rainier School is not just irresponsible — it's cruel. Families deserve certainty, not empty promises. Staff deserve respect, not displacement. Above all, residents deserve to be protected, not cast aside for budgetary convenience.
This is a defining moment for lawmakers to choose compassion and responsibility over short-sighted cost-cutting. Rainier School must remain open, and we must ensure its continued operation for the sake of those who depend upon it most.
Rep. Joshua Penner is a Republican who represents the 31st Legislative District.
