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Show i; r-Editorial USTS needs to calm concerns Officials from the'Utah'Department of Social Services need to act soon and decisively if they are going to , stabilize the atmosphere of uncertainty that now surrounds the Utah State Training School in American Fork. Recent events at the school, coupled with new directions in care of the handicapped traditionally housed at the state institution, have created an unhappy situation at the school. Add to that the unknown but sure to come changes in state government that will accompany the transition from a Democratic governor to a Republican one, and there are a lot of people who are worried about having a J ; job next month, and even next week. : At the higher levels of state government, no one is ! quite sure what is going to happen. Governor-elect :! ; Norm Bangerter claims he has no plans to carry out a I ; wholesale replacement of top appointed state offices. But he has said he will make changes where he feels they are necessary. It is a wait-and-see game to find out where those changes will be made, and the head of the Utah Department of Social Services has said he will remain in that position. Even that is still speculation, and other high ranking officials in that department are probably going to lose their jobs. At lower levels, jobs are threatened by the govern-: govern-: ment's plans to move some residents out of the Utah State Training School and into community based residential programs. ... .. It is part of a nationwide trend based on the theory that large institutions like the Utah State Training School are not the best way to care for the handicapped. Although state officials have been careful not to commit to any sudden moves, and claim that residents will be evaluated at depth before they are placed in residential tare programs, it is pretty certain that the trend will mean a shrinkipg number of residents at the training school - and! a resultant decrease in employment em-ployment at the institution. The sense of insecurity created by these conditions is magnified by recent changes among top level administrators ad-ministrators at the hospital. If those changes were made when the other problems did not exist, they would probably not have the same effect, j As it is, however, employees at the Utah State ! Training School -and there are a lot of them - are left in a position of waiting for the other shoe to drop and wondering on whom it will land. Through the upcoming weeks, clear signals from state and local leadership at the Utah State Training School would help a great deal to dispel the uncertainty that now surrounds the school. i |