Re: Re: Fw: Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

[Guest guest]

The state you refer to may have been Illinois, which does require that to

qualify for services from the Division of Developmental Disabilities as having

mental retardation, you need to have an IQ of 70 or below, as well as adaptive

deficits. The wording from the Pre-Admission Screening (PAS) manual is:

“Mental Retardation refers to:

a.. Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning

b.. existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and

c.. manifested before the age of 18 years.

" Significantly subaverage " is defined as an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 70 or

below on standardized measures of intelligence. This upper limit could be

extended upward depending on the reliability of the intelligence test used.

(Derived from 42 Code of Federal Regulations Chapter IV [10-1-96 Edition],

Section 483.102 ( (3); and Classification in Mental Retardation, American

Association on Mental Retardation, 1983.)â€

Individuals who don’t qualify under mental retardation or what is called a

“related conditionâ€, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy or autism, cannot get

Division of DD services but might qualify for services from the Division of

Rehabilitation Services.

Ed

From: Addie Wrain

Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 9:51 PM

IPADDUnite

Subject: Re: Fw: Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

Since we are at the beginning of this process, I had a question. I agree that

our children/young people need services.

I was watching a program that followed 3 young men with developmental

disabilities: 1 who was non-verbal autism, one who is closer to Asperger

Syndrome but lower functioning and one who I believe had some event that left

him with an IQ of 72 I believe. They were in different states I think. The last

one did not receive services because his IQ was 1 or 2 points too high to meet

the state IQ cutoff. The discussion was that certain states have established IQ

levels in the laws in order to ration services.

I guess Illinois is not one of those states where services are based on IQ? I

was wondering if filing this lawsuit would push IL state legislators to

establish an IQ cutoff and then in one stroke end the possible of services for

young men like my son who do not have low IQs but still require services in

order to be independent. So then the final outcome would be that we would have

to pay 100% of anything we would need for our son and others like him.

I think all the disabled people truly should get the support they are entitled

to...but do you all think this kind of lawsuit would push IL to move toward an

IQ cutoff or something like that? Can they do that?

>

> Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit FiledFYI

> Ellen

> Ellen Garber Bronfeld

> egskb@...

> Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

>

>

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> Dear Ellen,

>

> As you read this report, I am on my way to the Capitol to meet with Director

Casey.

>

> Bob Farley has filed another lawsuit against the State of Illinois. See

details below.

>

> Tony

>

> The Legal Team of H. Farley, Jr., N. Schneiderheinze,

Cahill and Alysha Briggs-, have filed a Federal Class Action

Lawsuit against the State of Illinois due to its failure to comply with Federal

Laws which mandate that medicaid eligible children (up to the age of 21) who

have behavioral or emotional disorders, receive intensive mental and behavioral

services in order to correct or ameliorate their conditions.

>

> The State of Illinois is aware that children (up to the age of 21) with severe

developmental disabilities or severe mental illnesses or severe emotional

disorders fail to receive the medically necessary home and community-based

services to address their needs. In 2010, the State issued a report which

identified over 18,000 persons through the age of 21 with severe mental

illnesses and emotional disturbances and yet only 220 of these children received

intensive community based services.

>

> The State of Illinois failure to comply with federal laws, results in

unnecessary repeated hospitalizations for some of the class members. Some of the

class members are “locked†out by their parents and guardians in order

to access State services. Some of the class members are on “Waiting

Lists†for needed services. Some of the class members have been told to

apply for “Individual Care Grants†and the reality is that most of

these requests are denied as in one year only 81 grants were awarded out from

over 1,000 requests for funding. Parents and caregivers are given the runaround

and told to play the alphabetical soup game and seek services from

“DMH†or “ICG†or “DHS†or “ODD†or

“DRS†or “CRSA†or “PUNS†or “SAS†or

“ISCA†or “ISBE†and the harsh reality is that at the end of

the day (years), the needed services are not provided.

>

> The United States Department of Justice in support of a similar federal class

action in another State, wrote that “[t]he denial of EPSDT services results

in significant harm to children with behavioral or emotional disorders,

including exacerbation of their conditions, deterioration to the point of

crisis, and unnecessary institutionalization in violation of the ADA.

>

> FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS LAWSUIT:

> Q. Do the children have to qualify for Medicaid? Answer: Yes, and if the child

is under the age of 18, then family income is considered. HOWEVER, if the child

is

> 18 years or older (18-20), then family income is not considered and then you

only

> look at the child’s assets and income.

> * * *

> Q. Is my child, who I adopted through DCFS, eligible for intensive home based

or residential treatment through EPSDT as part of the subsidy agreement

regardless

> of my income? Answer: Yes.

> * * *

> Q. Can the State have a “Waiting List†for this program? Answer: No.

Every child

> who has a medical need for these services must be served.

> * * *

> Q. If my child has Medicaid and is on the PUNS list waiting services, is he or

she

> legally entitled to immediate services? Answer: Yes.

> * * *

> Q. If my child has Medicaid and has been denied an ICG-Illinois Care Grant for

> intensive community based or residential treatment, can he receive these same

> services immediately through EPSDT? Answer: Yes.

> * * *

> Q. If a child qualifies for funding at age 18 and since the EPSDT program ends

at

> age 21, will the child lose ongoing services? Answer: Courts have ruled that

if the

> child still needs the services, then the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

requires

> the State to continue to provide these services.

>

> FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Attorney H. Farley, Jr., at 630-369-0103.

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Tony auski

> Executive Director

> The Arc of Illinois

> 20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209

> fort, IL 60423

> 815-464-1832 (OFFICE)

> 708-828-0188 (CELL)

> Tony@...

>

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[Guest guest]

it’s too bad, but it’s a reality that too often the only way people in need

of government services generally—not just people with disabilities—can get

what they need is by getting the courts to force it. our Ligas lawsuit is a

great example in Illinois, and the Bogard case, which got people with

developmental disabilities out of nursing homes, was another.

From: ELLEN BRONFELD

Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 10:21 AM

IPADDUnite

Subject: Re: Fw: Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

Thanks, Ed.

I don't have the information to back it up, but I have often heard that in other

states, community supports and services improved and were expanded by

litigation. If anyone has this data, it might be interesting to this group to

see some evidence that lawsuits can move the I/DD community forward.

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

mailto:egskb%40sbcglobal.net