Fw: Arc and Letters on Closing State Institutions

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Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

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Arc and Letters on Closing State Institutions

Letters reacting to the closing of state institutions. Is this

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Dear Ellen,

There are a number of Letters to the Editor in the

Chicago Tribune today reacting to the Governor's call to close Mabley and

ville.

Tony

October 12, 2011

Community care for the disabled

Congratulations on your great Sept. 30 editorial " Moving

to community care; State-run centers for the developmentally disabled are

finally on the way out. "

State institutions for people with developmental

disabilities that have an annual cost per resident of $181,700 a year are

expenditures that the state can no longer afford.

Small, more normalized community group homes can serve

almost anyone presently residing in the institutions for an average of half the

money Illinois is now spending on those outmoded facilities.

Let's start with the ville and Mabley Centers, as

you suggested, and then let's finish the job over the next few years by

downsizing and closing the other six relics of outdated warehousing of people

with disabilities.

— Don Moss, executive director, United Cerebral Palsy

of Illinois, Springfield

State-run centers

I hope that state-run centers for the developmentally

disabled are not on their way out.

There is no such thing as " one size fits all. "

Yes there should be less restrictive settings available

for those who can live and flourish in those settings.

Not all can.

My daughter has lived at Shapiro Developmental Center

for 26 years. Some of the staff have been there longer. She has thrived there.

She needs a much more structured setting than a group home could give her and

Shapiro gives her that. Members of the staff truly care about the residents they

watch over and should be given salutes and not be called " entrenched union "

workers.

Yes, care there might be more expensive than in a group

home; but just as those who need that setting should have it, so should those

who need the other setting have it as well.

— Nancie Blatt, Highland Park

Community support

The Chicago Tribune underscores the point that closing

institutions for people with disabilities should not be guided by politics or

the budget.

The decision should be guided by the needs, the rights

and the quality of life of people with disabilities.

For decades, the disability community has organized to

compel Illinois to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 1999

U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead ruling, which give people with disabilities the

right to receive supports in the most integrated setting. Yet, Illinois lags far

behind the rest of the country, institutionalizing people with disabilities at a

rate much higher than the rest of the country, even though institutions

typically cost more money and many people currently institutionalized would

rather receive supports in their own homes.

Disability advocates interpret Gov. Pat Quinn's closure

announcement as an opportunity to decrease Illinois' reliance on institutions.

But in order for the transition to community care to be

successful, Illinois must transfer resources from the institutions that will be

closed into the community.

— Arnold, Access Living, Chicago

Plans for transition

The editorial on " Moving to community care " for people

with developmental disabilities is right. People with disabilities can and

should be supported in their communities. My adult son is on the autism spectrum

and has been living in an apartment successfully for four years with community

supports. He has gained independent living skills that many people would not

have predicted.

The community system mentioned can better serve the

nearly 200 residents of the two institutions to be closed. For a responsible

transition, the governor and legislators must see that the money saved follows

those individuals into the community for group homes and other supportive

services. Planning for the transitions must be based on the needs of the

individuals.

Research surveys of parents of formerly

institutionalized individuals report that in the community, their loved ones

changed for the better in a number of ways: being more communicative,

independent, responsible and happier; showing positive behavioral changes; and

gaining daily living skills.

Both chambers of the Illinois Legislature have adopted a

resolution calling for a plan to enhance and expand access to quality community

services and supports for people with developmental disabilities. Those

community services are woefully underfunded in Illinois. Closing two

institutions presents both an opportunity and a responsibility.

Our elected officials have the responsibility to provide

appropriate funding for Illinois citizens with developmental disabilities.

— Bonnie Dohogne, ton, member, Illinois Council

on Developmental Disabilities

Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune

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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