Merakey will close Woodhaven Center, move its intellectually disabled residents to group homes

Merakey, a large provider of behavior health and intellectual disability services, announced Wednesday that it will close Woodhaven Center in Northeast Philadelphia and will help the facility’s 44 residents move to homes in the community.

The transition, which is expected to be completed by January 2025, fits with a long-term push by state regulators to end institutional care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. That has included the closure of state-run facilities in recent years.

“The number of people who reside in state institutions has dropped dramatically in the last 30 years, and the decision to transition our residents from Woodhaven to community living is the next step in that process,” said Joe Martz, CEO of Merakey, which is based in Lafayette Hill.

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Woodhaven Center employs close to 150 people. “It is our hope that staff who provided care at Woodhaven will make this transition with us and continue to provide great care for our residents at their new homes,” Martz said.

Merakey has operated Woodhaven since 1994, when it took over from Temple University. Temple ran it under a state contract. The state still owns the land.

An advocate for intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals called the closure the right thing to do, but sounded a note of caution regarding group homes in the community.

“We have to be sure the community services really do meet people’s needs,” said Kathy Sykes, former director of intellectual disability services in Philadelphia. That’s hard, given the difficulty group home operators have finding and retaining staff, she said.

When Woodhaven opened in 1971 with 280 beds, it was supposed to be for short-term stays. The idea was the residents in smaller groups would work on skills and behaviors.

“But the reality is people did not move on. It ended up being long term,” Sykes said.