While I was at the convention the state union and Murray Parents group started claiming that CRA was violating HIPPA rules as they started transition planing for people at Murray. It looks to me that the opposition to closing Murray is spreading misinformation to slow down the process of closing Murray.I can only wonder the many possibilities for the people at Murray if the opposition would quit fighting the closing and embrace community living for their loved ones. Rebalancing is not about saving money! It is about a better and safer life in the community. The people at Murray deserve that!

Here is a letter from our good friend Krescene and a not so good editorial that follows!

Tony

Krescene’s great letter to Editor in the News Democrat!

Murray residents need our community

Published: August 2, 2013

Representative Meier’s July 13 letter, “Governor is not protecting living residents,” alludes to existing problems for adults with disabilities living in community yet doesn’t specifically state what they are, leaving the reader to conjure up the worst.

I have spent years devoted to this issue and have supported people with disabilities in speaking up for their dreams and desires, and have celebrated with them as they walk through the threshold of their new home.

No system is perfect. There are exemplary providers in the metro-east and all over the state, yet we only hear about the negative. Accidents happen and people do go to the hospital. That doesn’t necessarily point to neglect; it may simply mean that staff followed procedures in ensuring that the best medical care was obtained for the self-advocate. The investigative results showing that all procedures were followed aren’t much fun to share as they don’t get folks worked up; perhaps that is why the public doesn’t hear about that. Murray Center is governed by the Illinois Department of Public Health, and IDPH has found serious systemic issues at Murray, yet that isn’t written about.

I respect that Rep. Meier is trying to represent his constituents that are making the most noise but an honest, objective assessment leads to only one conclusion: offering people the chance to live in the community brings the richness of relationships and offers a more meaningful and independent way of life. I would like to invite Rep. Meier to visit a community home to experience both sides.

Krescene Beck

The Alliance and Going Home Campaign

Glen Carbon

We’re not big fans of state government taking on new responsibilities, especially when it is stretched past breaking by its current responsibilities and too often fumbling them. But there are some decades-old responsibilities that we expect state government to handle deftly. One of those is caring for its most vulnerable residents.

A judge temporarily stopped the state from moving the remaining 230 seriously disabled residents of the Warren G. Murray Developmental Center in Centralia. About 40 were already moved, some of them supposedly without being allowed to say goodbye or after being lied to about their destinations.

We’re not experts in the care of the profoundly disabled, but we’ve heard from plenty of parents whose adult children are in the Murray Center. They have been fighting to keep it open because they are convinced the care received at the center is best for their children and even saved some lives.

Gov. Pat Quinn claims closing the center cuts the annual cost per person in half to about $120,000 a year and improves the quality of life for the disabled adults.

However, scattering the residents just leaves us uneasy about their welfare, wondering if their care will be monitored and doubtful whether abuses will be detected. Our reporters have documented the state’s woeful record of even investigating disabled adult abuses when they are reported.

So while the judge reviews this attempt to empty the Murray Center, we collectively should ask, “What should we do for some of our state’s most vulnerable residents? Where is the balance point between the cost of their care and what’s best for them?”
Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/08/02/2724786/savings-cost-our-weakest.html#storylink=cpy