Fw: Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

[Guest guest]

Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit FiledFYI

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...

Arc and New Class Action Lawsuit Filed

Use one or two sentences in this area to offer a teaser of

your email's content. Text here will show in a preview area in some email

clients. Is this email not displaying correctly?

View it in your browser.

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@...

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a

friend

Copyright © 2011 The Arc of Illinois, All rights

reserved.

You are receiving this email because you are a member of

The Arc of Illinois.

Our mailing address is:

The Arc of Illinois

20901 S.LaGrange Rd.

Suite 209

fort, IL 60423

Add us to your address book

unsubscribe from this list | update subscription

preferences | view email in browser