Budget Cuts to State Run Institutions info

[Guest guest]

Here's some information that was shared with me today -- the first is an article

that appeared on Progressive llinois in June, 2011, featuring Rita Burke,

President of a group called Illinois-ADD, which apparently is a quite

influential group of families fighting closure of the state-run institutions.

What follows after that is an email from Rita Burke to her supporters, forwarded

to me by someone on their mailing list; note that Rita Burke et al had a

TWO-HOUR face-to-face meeting recently with Saddler, Reta Hoskins, and

others at DHS, voicing their fears & opposition to the recently inacted budget

cuts to the SODC budgets. They are pushing Governor Quinn & legislators to

approve a SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING bill this fall to HELP KEEP THE INSTITUTIONS

OPEN.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Illinois Disability Rights Advocates Say Budget Cuts Are " Drastic And

Disproportionate " ; Progressive Illinois June 22nd, 2011

Progressive Illinois : by Aricka Flowers : June 22nd, 2011

Disability rights advocates are continuing to make their displeasure with the

recently passed state budget known, this time by publicly releasing a letter

sent to Governor Pat Quinn and Saddler, earlier this month.

In it, Rita Burke, president of the Illinois League of Advocates for the

Developmentally Disabled (IL-ADD), warned that the state's eight developmental

centers are being set up for failure, adding that by July 1 the facilities " will

be so underfunded that decertification and loss of federal matching funds will

certainly result. "

Last month, the General Assembly passed the still-unsigned 2012 state budget,

which will severely cut funding for the state's eight residential centers for

Illinoisans with the most profound disabilities. Officials for IL-ADD say the 25

percent budget cut would amount to a loss of $80 million for the facilities

located in , Centralia, Dixon, Dwight, ville, Kankakee, Park Forest,

and Waukegan.

In Burke's letter, she requested a meeting between Quinn and representatives

from the eight facilities -- outlining the serious aftermath that could follow

from the budget cuts. She also noted how the closure of just one State Operated

Development Center (SODC) facility led to immense chaos and life-threatening

adjustments for its residents:

We understand that your proposed budget fully funded our Centers and this budget

is not your doing. However, the decision of what to do with it is yours. We want

you to understand how high the stakes are for our family members and need to

know what you can do to save them.

We believe there is urgency in this request. By July 1, 2011, our Centers will

be so underfunded that decertification and loss of federal matching funds will

certainly result. Our Centers will not survive. Our family members cannot

survive without them. Almost every SODC resident has come from failed community

placements. The community cannot serve our loved ones' extreme needs nor protect

them from harm, can refuse to accept them, and can expel them, facts to which

many family members can attest in their own anguished stories.

The closure of Howe Developmental Center took nearly a year and 70% of those

residents moved to other SODCs. Despite a seemingly cautious pace and apparent

care in the selection of the next placements, thirteen people died following

transition from Howe, possibly related to the trauma of transition. This budget

does not allow for a cautious pace nor movement to other SODCs. The community

which is currently inadequate to support extremely high needs individuals is

also cut in this budget and will become even more ill-equipped to fill a void

left by SODC closures. Where will our loved ones go? What is their future—do

they have one?

You must be aware that the advocates for SODC closures do not need that level of

care and do not advocate for those who do. ... There are budget cuts that will

not cost innocent lives. Cuts to our State Operated Developmental Centers are

not among them.

AND NOW, THE EMAIL FROM RITA BURKE TO HER SUPPORTERS, SUMMARIZING YESTERDAY'S

MEETING WITH RENEE SADLER & DETAILING THE SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET REQUEST TO KEEP

SODCs RUNNING:

Dear Board and Friends-

Yesterday's meeting with Reta Hoskin and Greg Fenton was expanded to include

Secretary Saddler and General Counsel - Sullivan. I got a late email

from , Reta's assistant, on Wednesday saying that the Secretary wanted to

join us (from Chicago)-so we were moved to a video-conference room in

Springfield. -, we were told, had been with the Secretary at another

meeting and decided to come along to ours.

Wayne, Liz, and I believe it was a good meeting. It lasted about 2 hours

and they all seemed to be willing to stay as long as we had anything to say. We

continued to talk with Reta for another long period of time.

The good news is that we believe that they all care about what happens to our

family members and answered our questions honestly. They took notes and seemed

genuinely interested in our recommendations (please read the attached letter

which outlines our discussion and recommendations). We do believe that they will

work with us to educate legislators (to get valid cost comparisons between

SODCs and community; to profile SODC residents vs community

residents-particularly looking at the challenges presented by new admissions; to

identify ways SODCs have cut spending and ways they cannot; to predict

consequences to SODC residents if SODCs close).

The bad news is that they said that they do not know what will happen. They have

had no guidance from the Governor's office to lay-off, to close, or to do

anything. Greg is talking to the facility directors weekly to discuss ways in

which the SODCs can cut their costs. They do not believe they can come close to

22% in cuts. They are spending as though they did not have the budget cuts and

don't know what will happen when the budgeted funding runs out. The Secretary

stated that there are three possibilities: 1) the Governor will request and the

legislature will approve Supplemental funding and the SODCs will be alright, 2)

there will be a reasonable and cautious approach to closing some SODCs or 3)

there will be no funding and closures willl be immediate and dangerous. She

said, in any circumstances, the future will be painful. She agreed to speak to

the Governor about our request to meet with him. Liz is contacting Sheila Simon

(Lt. Gov) who is from our area and serves with Liz on the League of Women

Voters.

Obviously, we need to convince our legislators that the Supplemental is the only

humane option.

Another real concern is the recent appointment of a new DHS director who will be

in place possibly as early as September 1. His name is Casey from PA. He

has a scary background including Pennsylvania's Protection and Advocacy. I will

forward an email from Wayne with some of 's own words.

Rita