Thread: Group home stirs debate

Plans for group home stir debate in DuPage

By Jennifer Taylor
Special to the Tribune
Published December 14, 2006


A human service agency's plan to turn a million-dollar estate house in unincorporated Naperville into a group home for children, some illegally trafficked into the United States, is raising community fears that it will create safety problems and drive down property values.

If Heartland Human Care Service's request for a conditional-use permit is approved next month by the DuPage County Zoning Board, the group home would be the first of its type in the county, zoning officials said.



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The home, in the 23W700 block of Hobson Road, would temporarily house up to 30 boys and girls, mostly from India and China, from infants to age 17, and 15 employees, said Paul Hoss, county zoning coordinator.

Because the home, on 3.5 acres in an equestrian community, is in an unincorporated area, the zoning falls under the jurisdiction of the county rather than the City of Naperville.

A DuPage County public hearing on the matter was held Nov. 30 in Wheaton, where about 30 neighborhood residents attended. The county Zoning Board plans to consider the plan Jan. 4 and could vote then. If the board approves, the recommendation will likely go to the full County Board for consideration.

The $1.87 million sale by a private owner is contingent on approval of the permit, Heartland officials said.

Dan Daghfal, a neighbor who said he is leading a campaign against approval of the group home, said that only four homeowners in the neighborhood of about 200 homes were notified of the zoning request.

DuPage County is required to notify only those within 300 feet of the site in question.

Daghfal's home is located three houses from the property, but because it is about 750 feet away, he did not receive a notice from the county.

"We don't think [the distance notification] is very applicable in this area," said Dan Daghfal's wife, Beth. "That has been a concern for us.

"There are many neighbors still finding out."

Dan Daghfal also said he is concerned for his four children's safety, the safety of other families in the neighborhood and the possible effect on property values.

On Wednesday, Daghfal said he and other neighbors are formulating a petition against the proposal. He also said they are planning to ask the county for a continuance.

Heartland officials said residents' fears are unfounded.

Susan Tradeau, executive director of the social service agency's child welfare program, said the home would be staffed 24 hours a day and licensed by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and subject to that agency's inspections. Tradeau said the home is more than large enough and would comply with Fire Department inspections.

She said Heartland selected Naperville because of its increasingly diverse population. Specifically, Tradeau said that there is a large and growing Indian and Asian population in Naperville that shares the children's cultural backgrounds.

Hugo Ruiz, managing director of youth and residential services for Heartland, said the children are expected to live in the home for up to 90 days, then be reunited with their families or relocated.

During their stay, the children would be provided with medical care and would be home-schooled, Tradeau said.

The children who would be housed at the DuPage facility are now at the agency's other location, in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Some of the children are victims of illegal trafficking, and others arrive in the country looking for family members, Tradeau said. She said the children who are trafficked are brought under various circumstances, but the majority enter the country hoping to reunite with family members.

If the children's family members are in the country legally, Tradeau said, most, if not all, of them are reunited with relatives. The children would then go through the process to gain citizenship. The children, in many cases, are stopped upon entry into the country at airports and are placed in the custody of Heartland, she said.

Ruiz said the group has never had a complaint from neighbors at its other facilities, including the one in Rogers Park that the agency has run for 11 years. It houses 70 children, he said.

Ruiz also said the organization intends to maintain the Naperville property because it is a sizable investment.

"I cannot tell what the future holds," Ruiz said. But the group has a mutual interest in seeing the property and neighboring properties appreciate, he said.

"We want to make sure the property does not diminish."



Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... alwest-hed

Great find crazybird! I'm going to write the City of Naperville and Dupage County.

It is not our responsibility as U.S. Citizens and Taxpayers to be paying for this. Reminds me of Organized Crime?