Lawmakers hear report on MDC placements

Three years after the Montana Legislature first voted to close the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder, and fifteen months after the original closure deadline, 19 individuals still remained at the MDC as of March 5, 2018.

According to a Legislative Research Analyst (LRA) report to a legislative committee earlier this month, twelve of those residents were at the Intensive Behavior Center, a 12-bed locked building approved by the 2017 Legislature to remain open permanently. The IBC is intended to serve individuals court-committed due to behaviors posing “an imminent risk of serious harm to self or others.” Those commitments and recommitments are limited to 90 days at a time.

The other seven remaining MDC clients as of March 5 were living in MDC cottages.