Los Gatos Weekly-Times EMQ is bringing more kids back to Conference Center By Jeff Kearns Eastfield Ming Quong is planning to bring more children to the Los Gatos Conference Center to make room for a growing staff in its Campbell office, but the move, scheduled for late January, may not be music to the ears of neighbors or town officials. The facility currently houses 10 developmentally disabled kids, a total of which EMQ chief operating officer Rick Williams says will be increased to 30. Plans are still very preliminary, Williams says, but EMQ is planning informational meetings with residents and officials. Letters were sent out Monday to neighbors. "We haven't finalized any plans yet, but it won't go back to the days when we had 60-plus kids up there," Williams said. "We're looking at the feasibility for the kids and trying to figure out what would be the least impact on that campus." EMQ cut the amount of kids living on the 13-acre campus in 1993, and later turned the facility into a conference center. But now, with an expanding staff, the facility is coming up short for employee parking, and some employees may be transferred back down to the Campbell office. Williams says that the move comes after a re-evaluation of how EMQ is using space on its two campuses as all of its programs continue to grow. The Los Gatos campus, he says, is the best environment for the kids, because it has a total of 39 beds, a pool and other recreational facilities, but EMQ is also trying to minimize vehicle traffic in the area, which was the most common complaint when EMQ opened the conference center in 1995. The facility was beset by a series of problems in 1992 and '93, when as many as 70 kids were housed there and according to EMQ and town officials, supervised by a staff that was not large or well-trained enough to effectively manage the kids. During that time, Los Gatos police responded to a variety of calls, from intervening in conflicts between kids and staff to criminal activity. "They were the highest service call generators for all kinds of things when they were operating," Los Gatos Police Capt. Jeff Miller said. Miller says the department would be concerned about another increase in 911 calls and would try to work with EMQ on making sure there are enough well-trained staff at the facility to handle any problems that might come up. And that's exactly what EMQ says it's doing. Now, according to spokesperson Carla Zaccheo, there will be a bigger, better-trained staff at the facility. "There have been a lot of changes in the treatment of disturbed children in the last five to 10 years, which will really help in this case," she said. Also, Zaccheo adds, the number of kids up there will never be as large as it was in years past, because more of the children in the program are being treated on an outpatient basis in their own homes. The kids currently living at the Los Gatos campus are teenagers, but the children EMQ plans to move up from Campbell range in age from 5 to 12. Williams says EMQ is working to make the plan successful. "We're really committed to making sure we have a plan with police, the fire department and the neighborhood to make sure this is as good a situation as possible," he said. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 11, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.