Can anyone help with cost estimates for adult services in Chicago (in or near Hyde Park)?

[Guest guest]

I am a parent/student-side special education lawyer and mother of

19-year-old twin sons who have autism, and am considering moving from

Irvine, California to Chicago. We are trying to figure out whether this

is financially viable, and how much we would need to be expecting to

spend for services in Illinois. I have gotten wildly varying figures

from providers, and would appreciate any insights people on this list

can provide.

In CA adult services are available free, quickly, and in " community "

(six bed group homes or, rarely, supported living) settings. On the

other hand, this could change given CA's budget, the quality is often

not good, and parent/consumer control is usually minimal. I gather that

funding is much worse in Illinois. We are trying to figure out how much

we would need to spend annually for residential services and day

activities (preferably supported employment) for one of our sons, and

for much less intensive supports for the other.

Both of our sons are very social and are mainly concerned about leaving

people they care about and moving to a place where they know almost no

one.

" Twin A " has tested in the intellectual disability range, so eligibility

shouldn't be a problem in Illinois. He talks in long, correct

sentences, decodes at adult level and comprehends at about 4th grade

level, and greatly enjoys stimming. He adjusted immediately to

Princeton, where we are staying for a year, and it helps socially that

he is in a high school-based transition program with an after school

somewhat inclusive social component (rather than a large commuter-based

community college like his brother, below). We think he would be very

happy in a group living situation with people near his age, and while we

aren't in any hurry for that, we would like to know what the options are

and how much it would cost to privately fund a good residential and day

programs (supported employment of some kind), since it sounds like

self-funding is a very strong possibility in Illinois.

" Twin B " is doing well in community college classes, and has people in

CA he is very unwilling to leave (some friends of the family and

caregivers he has known for many years, and some students from his high

school, particularly from the baseball team which he helped out senior

year). We are trying to convince him that he is at the beginning of his

adult social life and that there would be a lot of people he would like

in Chicago (and it would be much easier to get around without driving,

which he reasonably fears). Unfortunately, this year, which we are

spending in New Jersey (where he is taking an on-line class at his CA

community college and two classes at a New Jersey community college) has

not been good socially for him so far, and I think he is very nervous

about another new place. Our vision is that he would go to a college

with dorms in Chicago when we arrive or soon afterwards, rather than

moving straight to an apartment, which is his current preference. We

would like to find a four-year college that he could get into and that

will be supportive. He is interested in physical therapy and maybe

special education, and is good at Spanish and starting to study sign

language. He has taught English to Spanish-speaking adults and

pre-algebra to a teenage friend using Direct Instruction programs, and

liked it. He would benefit from being in a place with a good office of

disability services and maybe from finding an encouraging support group.

We would like to be able to reassure him about social opportunities in

Chicago. He wants to live with friends, or a partner, and our thought

is to try to get him a small condo (hopefully after some dorm life).

He is likely to need help finding, and possibly keeping, work.

Any responses, on or off list, would be greatly appreciated.

Maureen R. Graves

Law Offices of Maureen Graves

34 Schubert Court

Irvine, CA 92617

Ph: 949-856-0128

Fax: 949-856-0168

Cell: 949-466-4248

maureen@... <mailto:maureen@...>

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