The Arc of Illinois

July 12, 2010

Leaders in The Arc:

Voice of the People in todays Chicago Tribune! Well done Ann, Charlotte and Tony!

Marca Bristo and I also worked on this position paper.

Tony Paulauski

The Arc of Illinois

815-4664-1832

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Spending for Disabled

Illinois progress toward a more cost effective and just approach to serving people with disabilities and their families took a major blow last week when Governor Quinn announced more than $300 million in budget cuts to programs for the disabled. Thats a full 20 percent of the total reductions in the state budget. The Governor is faced with balancing many difficult budget demands, but this decision hurts both taxpayers and people with disabilities.

When is a budget cut not a budget cut? The answer is when the least costly and most effective services are cut, leaving only outmoded, expensive and politically entrenched approaches.

In this case, that means programs that serve people in their own homes and in  community settings are being slashed while the state continues to pour money into  expensive nursing homes and state-run institutions that keep people with disabilities trapped in a state of unwanted and unnecessary dependence. That defies common sense.

Community-living and support options work and are paying off for taxpayers. We know now that today everyone can be supported in his or her community.

And we know that programs that serve people in their community save money. A 2010 report by the Illinois Human Services Commission found that Illinois provided community-based mental health services to 175,000 people at a cost of $390 million in FY 2010, half the cost of $640 million for only 15,000 nursing home beds for people with disabilities who do not require daily nursing.

Illinois is one of the few states that waste money on state-operated institutions and nursing homes. Taxpayers spend a staggering $162,000 per person for the 2000 residents of eight large state-operated institutions.

We are your families, neighbors and friends. We want, and have a right, to remain in our communities. We do not want to be forced into nursing homes or state institutions. As we approach the 20^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this budget rolls back civil rights.

We need to keep programs that work and slash those that dont. We ask the governor and the legislature to rescind these cuts and support:

1. Reforming the wasteful institutional bias in state spending for the disabled
   
2. No caps on home service hours, and adequate funding to meet demand.
   
3. Closing down the state operated institutions serving the developmentally disabled and investing those resources in community services.
   
4. New revenue and prompt payments to be applied to cost-effective community and in home services.

Ann Ford, Executive Director, Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, Springfield

Charlotte Cronin, Executive Director, Family Support Network, Peoria

Tony Zipple, CEO, Thresholds, Chicago