The Arc of Illinois

July 28, 2010

Leaders in The Arc:

Shawn Jeffers makes the Chicago Tribune. Well done Shawn!

Tony Paulauski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

Much still needs to be done for Americans with disabilities

Chicago Tribune
July 27, 2010

On July 26, 2010, many citizens rightfully celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and how it has transformed the lives of people with disabilities, especially as it relates to the workplace.
However, it's difficult to celebrate when our most vulnerable citizens continue to be presented by our state and its legislators as a liability, and not as an asset, as our state wrestles with financial solvency.
Illinois ranks among the last 10 states in every category linked to supporting people with disabilities, including its rank of dead last (51st, counting the District of Columbia) for community residential services.

Year after year, support for our most vulnerable citizens in Illinois is placed in jeopardy. Last summer, Gov. Quinn threatened 50 percent cutbacks to disability programs. Fortunately, the "doomsday" cuts didn't happen.
Today, however, the budget ax continues to threaten tens of thousands of innocent lives when it should focus on cutting fatty, wasteful and less productive state expenditures and focus on identifying new streams of revenue.
We know there is at least $94 million in community services (from the Department of Human Services) on the chopping block. For Little City, we stand to lose more than $1.4 million in funding for the hundreds of children and adults and their families who we serve in Chicago's surrounding counties.
Yes, the state is in financial crisis. Yes, cutbacks need to be made. However, when this ongoing "crisis" affects an already underfunded group of Illinois' most vulnerable citizens, there is little to celebrate.
After 20 years of establishing such a significant national milestone, we should be celebrating significant progress. Instead, human service agencies throughout our state are looking at ways to do less with less or close their doors, thus turning back the clock on all of the gains that have been made since the passage of the historical ADA law.
The ADA was a major step in promoting opportunity and fairness while preventing discrimination in the workplace for people with disabilities. Although progress has been made, we still have a long way to go in Illinois when it comes to providing these protections and promoting other quality of life aspects for people with disabilities.
I pray and hope the lawmakers of Illinois will take their role mindfully and not mindlessly the next time they return to Springfield; a responsible budget does not have to exclude the people who need funding the most.
-- Shawn E. Jeffers, Little City Foundation