Brian Cox, executive director of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council, attended the news conference yesterday and praised the closing.
"We've been advocating this for years. If you look at the years of troubles this facility has had ... there is no answer short of closure that makes sense," Cox said.
But officials from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents Rosewood's 513 full-time workers, called the center's closing unnecessary.
Barry Chapman, president of the AFSCME Local 422, said he will monitor what happens with the center's employees.
O'Malley said he will work with the union to find jobs for the displaced workers.
"I have to wait and see if that promise is fulfilled," Chapman said.
Sherelle Daniels, who has been working at Rosewood since 1995, said many of its residents were heartbroken after hearing they would have to relocate. She described Rosewood as a place where the workers established lifelong bonds with tenants, often taking them on trips to grocery stores, banks and, at times, vacations outside of the state.
"It's not all what everybody says," Daniels said. "It's not like handcuffs and shackles that people want to seem like it is."
Elsie Platner said that her 48-year-old daughter has been at Rosewood for 14 years and that she has never seen any signs of neglect.
She said she is unsure whether she will put her daughter in a group home or try to care for her herself. "It really affects the families," she said. "We don't know what we're going to do."
But advocates for the closing said yesterday's decision was a long time in the making.
Representatives from the Maryland Disability Law Center said they issued a report in February that detailed seclusion, injuries and neglect of some patients, including one who was locked in a room for 23 hours.
MDLC attorney Rachel B. London said institutions such as Rosewood have become outdated.
London said about 22,000 developmentally disabled people live in Maryland and that less than 300 live in institutions. The state also runs institutions in Hagerstown, Cumberland and on the Eastern Shore.
"People should be able to live in their own communities. It's a civil rights issue," London said.
Health Secretary John M. Colmers said the state will form a transition team to oversee the relocation of patients.
