Krebs: SETT costs too high

Delegate addresses local issues at Freedom session

By Charles Schelle
cschelle@patuxent.com
Posted 4/22/09

State Del. Susan Krebs (R-Dist. 9B) last week praised progress at the new Secure Evaluation and Therapeutic Treatment program in Sykesville, but wants to see improvements for the program's operating costs.

Krebs, who represents Eldersburg and Sykesville, provided an update on local issues at the Freedom Area Citizens' Council meeting April 16.

SETT is a state Developmental Disabilities Administration program -- recently relocated to Springfield Hospital Center from the Rosewood Center in Owings Mills -- that hosts people who have developmental disabilities and have committed a crime, but are either incompetent to stand trial or found not criminally responsible.

Krebs said the state is slated to spend $332,000 on average per patient annually to operate the Sykesville unit, a figure that she said, "shocked me."