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OCT-08 -1996 15:19 HRIPN M OLSEN 612 286 2174 P.05 i POLICY ANALYSIS SERIES c C ISSUES RELATED TO WELSCH v. NOOT /NO. 11 A : at is of Minn In a :diate Pro es a Values of Cmmnunit It es or enta 1 etarded - ert • Since the 1960s, the ideology underlying provision of services to developmen- tally disabled people, and the methods of treatment deemed appropriate have undergone a dramatic shift. The tens "normalization" most frequently used to name this shift, encompasses several interrelated movements. Delnstitutionalization, the most important of these, aims to return developmentally disabled people to community settings and to enhance the system of care provided to those who remain in institutions. Successful dein$titutionalization requires an adequate supply of appropriate community placements and implies integration of developmentally disabled people into the community. While the first requirement can be met with sufficient - funds and other government action, integration into the community is a more - subtle obstacle - -a collection of factors which hamper community acceptance of developmentally disabled people. Zoning legislation and court action can force neighborhood compliance, but neither is equipped to deal with the emotional concerns that underlie a neighborhood's attempts to exclude a group home. Wherever group homes are proposed, neighborhood opponents present a familiar litany of resistance. Though their concerns run the gamut from fear of increased criminal activity to concern for the safety of group home residents, these diverse complaints often mask a larger concern_ decline in property val- ues of their own homes. • This containpargroupshomeh the reality of for retarded people. values in asda measure. property values of group home neighborhoods were analyzed for the year preced- ing and the year fallowing the establishment of the home. Changes in these property values were compared to changes in similar neighborhoods without group homes to determine if the establishment of a home caused a decline in the assessed value of surrounding property. I. THE SITUATION IN MINNESOTA Minnesota was an early eader in developing community alternatives to insti- tutional care. The number of mentally retarded individuals in grpgp homr5 Asset sled value; the value of a home as determined by the tax assessor in cal- culating property tax. Because many states limit the annual increase•in asses- sed value, the market value of a home often exceeds its assessed value. DEVELOPMENTAL OI$ABILITIE9 PLANNING • DEPARTMENT Off ENEAQY. PLANNING ANO DEVELOPMENT 201 CAPITOL SQUARE 91.00. • 550 CEDAR STREET • ST. PAUL, MN 55101 • 61212W6•4010 OCT-07 -1996 15:42 6125256619 Page 10 93% P.05