Fw: Arc and Advocates Protest Cuts to Disability Services

[Guest guest]

Here is an update on the budget cuts.

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...

Arc and Advocates Protest Cuts to Disability Services

The Arc of Illinois

February 24, 2011

Leaders in The Arc:

This morning before the Senate Human Service Committee meeting, I was proud to

be part of a protest on the cuts to disability services.

News and TV coverage was excellent. Below is our press release and a short story

from the Chicago Tribune.

We need to be talking to the press about the cuts to disability services!

Tony auski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

Proposed budget fails to support people with disabilities in the community

Cuts would end up costing the State more money

(Chicago) -- Thursday morning, February 24, individuals and organizations

representing a wide range of disabilities rallied outside the Center

against Governor Quinns proposed state budget. The advocates called on Quinn to

rescind cuts to services that empower people with disabilities to live

independently in the community.

Addressing the crowd of advocates, Mathes, a veteran with a disability,

spoke about what it means to live independently. Through the Department of

Human Services Community Reintegration Program, administered by centers for

independent living, Mathes was able to move out of nursing home and into an

apartment of his own. The program is one of many services threatened to be cut

or reduced under Governor Quinns proposed FY 2012 Budget. If the proposed

budget stands, veterans with disabilities will not have the same opportunity

offered to Mathes. I had a chance to move forward, Mathes said. Others in my

position also deserve the chance to move forward.

In addition to the Community Reintegration Program, Governor Quinns budget cuts

will impact Centers for Independent Living, support services for developmental

disabilities, mental health services, and substance abuse and detox services.

In each case, the cuts impact services that people with disabilities need in

order to live on their own in the community. As a result, the cuts will end up

costing money rather than saving money if people are forced into institutions

due to a lack of community support services.

The budget bureaucrats are cutting the heart out of important disability

supports, said Tony auski, Executive Director of the Arc of Illinois. Family

Assistance is being eliminated! Home-Based Services are being cut! These

services support children and adults in their homes with their families. Instead

this budget supports state institutions and protects state jobs! While less

costly community-based services are targeted under the proposed budget, State

Operated Developmental Centers, large institutions that cost more to run per

person, are slated for an increase.

Like Mathes, Fred Friedman, the founder of Next Steps, once lived in a nursing

home. He now lives in the community with mental health supports. We were

hopeful that the Governor would expand community support, said Friedman. In

fact, he has cut them.

The cuts will impact service providers such as Thresholds, which provides

supports to people with mental illness. People with severe mental illness have

a right to rebuild their lives with the help of the quality community-based

care, said Tony Zipple, CEO of Thresholds. For every dollar in proposed budget

cuts to mental health, taxpayers will be forced to pay at least two dollars for

care in nursing homes, jails, and hospitals.

For years, the State of Illinois has lagged behind other states in terms

offering service options in the community rather than institutions. With all

types of disabilities, the State of Illinois is near the bottom of the national

list of spending in the community versus institutions. The proposed budget will

not reverse the trend. The State has a history of violating the Supreme Court

mandate that people with disabilities be served in the most integrated setting -

the community, said Zena Naditch, President and CEO of Equip for Equality. The

state has already disproportionally burdened people with disabilities in its

response to the current budget crisis. We implore the Governor not to make this

mistake again and to propose a budget that will preserve community services,

which are vital to the independence of people with disabilities and actually

save the State money.

Members of the disability community are calling on Governor Quinn to:

Eliminate cuts to Centers for Independent Living

Eliminate Proposed Cuts to:

Mental Health Services

Developmental Disability Services

Substance Abuse Services and Detox Programs

Redirect increased money for State Operated Developmental Centers to

Community-Based Services

Eliminate any new nursing home funding

Maintain the current asset limit for individuals in the Home Services

Program (Encourage people with disabilities who get home services to seek

employment)

Restore Circuit Breaker Program

Change ratio of Institutional money to community-based money from 70-30

to 65-45 by 2012 (develop an ongoing five percent per year plan to truly

rebalance Medicaid long-term care spending)

Maintain infrastructure capacity of all centers for independent living

to deinstitutionalize people

Fulfill service provider payment obligations

A broad range of disability organizations supported the rally, including Access

Living, The Arc of Illinois, C4, Chicago ADAPT, Equip for Equality, Next Steps

and Thresholds

Following the rally, members of the community attended a Department of Human

Services Budget Meeting called by Senator Mattie Hunter, at which individuals

and groups continued to speak out against the cuts.

Ill. advocates for disabled plan rally to protest Quinn's proposed budget cuts

CHICAGO (AP) Advocates for people with disabilities are speaking out against

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed budget cuts.

They plan a rally Thursday in Chicago just before a state Senate hearing on

human services. Organizers say groups like Access Living, The Arc of Illinois

and Chicago ADAPT will be taking part.

The governor's proposed budget would cut a long list of human services.

Rally organizers say those cuts would be devastating. They say it will hurt

treatment for the mentally ill, services for people with developmental

disabilities and centers for independent living.

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