The Disability Law Center, a civil rights organization, has been saying for years that the Utah State Developmental Center -- formerly known as the American Fork Training School -- should be closed.

But the latest call by the group's executive director, Fraser Nelson, deserves serious consideration.

The center has been whittled down to only 233 residents as increasing numbers of developmentally challenged individuals (these days, we steer away from the term mentally retarded) have sought and found better lives in the real world. That's down from 1,000 or so residents at its peak. Yet the facility consumes one-fourth of all state funding for the developmentally disabled, or $35 million a year, according to the Disability Law Center.

New buildings are currently under construction to replace old ones at the site that have become unfit for occupancy, which seems to be throwing good money at what may be a long-term losing proposition. Given the national trend of moving away from isolated institutions, it seems inevitable to us that the American Fork center will reach a breaking point. Now is the time to plan an exit strategy so that individual services will not be interrupted.

The University of Minnesota reported that from 1996 to 2005, 58 state-run residential facilities were closed. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia closed all of their residential facilities.

Nelson told a legislative committee working on the state's Medicaid issues that the center should be phased out and its 233 residents put into smaller, more efficient programs around the state. She said the center's 150-acre facility is a revenue drain that could be turned into a paying asset. It might be possible, for example, to sell a portion of the property and place the proceeds into a trust fund to help provide ongoing services to people on a lengthy state waiting list.

Her recommendation did not go over well with House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, who reportedly said she needed to bring it up with another committee and suggested she was politically motivated.

Nelson's comments also upset the families of some residents of the American Fork center, who view the institution as the best hope for their loved ones. They fear what would happen if it were not available to them.

But those comments do not change the fact that the state needs to reconsider the costs and benefits of the old training school. While we understand the sense of permanency and comfort a brick-and-mortar institution may provide to family members, evidence suggests it may no longer be the best alternative. Many challenged individuals are living productive lives in communities even as others with similar levels of need continue to be housed at the American Fork center, advocates say.

Translation: A great many residents at the center could function outside the institution, too, if they were given the same level of support as their counterparts. This appears to be a working reality, not theory.

Federal law has changed over the years. We now have the Americans with Disabilities Act and a whole new regulatory framework for the distribution of aid. So it is fair to ask whether a heavy institutional setting provides the best return on investment.

But there is more than money at stake. When it was created 75 years ago, the training school represented what was then thought to be the most humane way to deal with the developmentally disabled. Today the emphasis is on integrating such individuals into a larger community, and the results have been positive.

Studies in Delaware, Wisconsin and other states found that people who moved from institutional care to community-based programs made significantly better progress than those who stayed behind in isolated settings.

Of course, a few individuals at American Fork cannot go into the community. Their problems are too severe and their needs intensive. Such individuals can move to private residential facilities, and federal dollars will follow.

We are reminded of the old saying that a failure to plan is a plan to fail. Let's not let the American Fork center become an example of that. The trend is clear: the population at the center will continue to dwindle unless it is artificially replenished by the state -- which is simply wrong. Market and social forces should be allowed to run their course.

If there is a better way of doing things in light of regulatory changes, Utah should not be afraid to cut loose an outdated boat anchor. It's time to talk the issue through in public.