CLEARFIELD – After two meetings without representation, Skills of Central Pennsylvania attended Tuesday’s Lawrence Township Supervisors’ meeting to explain who they are and what they do.
Skills has been a topic of conversation at both the last regular meetings of the Lawrence Township Supervisors and the Lawrence Township Planning Commission in regard to the home they purchased in Goldenrod Farms. While residents are not opposed to Skills overall, it is rumored that two of the people slated to live in the house have criminal backgrounds.
Steve Martynuska, vice president of Skills, started at the beginning, noting that Skills was started as a lawn mower repair shop in Bellefonte that gave people with special needs work. From there, Skills has grown to cover 14 counties in Central Pennsylvania, and offers services such as home and community support services and independent living opportunities. Skills has been operating in Clearfield County since 1998, operates two houses in the county, and contracts with Clearfield-Jefferson Mental Health/Mental Retardation.
“These people have lived here (Clearfield County) since 1999. They’ve realized the American dream of having their own home,” said Martynuska.
The Skills staff also noted that they have been searching for a home in the county for the last four to five years. In particular, they look for single-story homes.
The Lawrence Township solicitor recommended that Martynuska explain what kind of people Skills plans on bringing into their Goldenrod home.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors,” said Naddeo. “All of which would make people uncomfortable.”
Martynuska did not exactly do that, however. He did note that the people who Skills serves have different backgrounds and experiences, just like everyone else. He noted that while a resident’s criminal record is public knowledge, neither he nor his staff were permitted to give out any information that might reveal the identity of their clients.
The Skills residents are supervised 24-hours a day, seven days a week, according to Marynuska. The ratio of caregivers to clients is one-to-one, and at times two-to-one basis. The caregivers receive extensive training and are familiar with their clients’ backgrounds, according to the Skills staff. If there is a problem on-site, the aids have options to call whomever they feel that they should, whether it is 911 or a crisis line.
Goldenrod resident Rose Leavy told Martynuska that her daughter felt unsafe and locked their door at night now. After the meeting, Goldenrod resident Dee Peters went on the record to say that she was not happy with the answers that Skills gave the residents, and contended they were hiding behind Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
“My primary concern is a business operating out of Goldenrod,” said Ron Turner, Goldenrod resident. “I contend that it is a business.”
Turner asked Martynuska whether he was aware of the covenants that Goldenrod residents must follow. Martynuska said he was not. Turner told him that one of the stipulations is that a business operating out of Goldenrod may have no more that two employees, unless more than 50-percent of the residents of the neighborhood approve of more employees.
The Skills group invited residents to contact their local Skills representatives to get to know them better.
Turner told Martynuska and the Skills staff that Skills was an excellent group.
“Let’s hope we can work this out,” said Turner.