I had an excellent and productive meeting last week with Michael Gelder,
Senior Advisor to the Governor on Health Policy.
I wanted to discuss the State Health Care Innovation Plan and the Alliance
for Health. I was appointed to the Steering Committee, and there are many
important implications for individuals with intellectual and other developmental
disabilities (I/DD) as well as community services. I find myself constantly
challenged by the aspect of the medical model vs the social model in the
delivery of services/supports as our state moves into health care reform.
With the Dept of Health Care & Family Services becoming so involved with
community services, this concern will continue.
I really wanted Michael to understand the importance of conflict free, independent
service coordination for individuals with I/DD. The Arc settled a class action lawsuit
which created independent service coordination. This was an important part of that
settlement. We now have 18 Individual Service Coordination Organizations across the
state. As the state moved to Phase II, the specialized case management system set in
place was dismantled. I do not want to see that happen to our service coordination
system if the state moves to Phase III. Another part of the discussion focused around
Home-Based Services and flexible day services, with an emphasis on employment,
individual budgets and supports in natural environments. Lastly, I wanted him to learn
about employee education which is also a part of the Alliance for Health. The Admin-
istration
should be aware of the College of Direct Support for employees within the Developmental
Disability System. A lot of good work has been done in Illinois because of the leadership
of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Institute on Disability & Human
Development UIC and advocates across Illinois.
We had a robust discussion and I look forward to the next Alliance meeting on
September 26th.
Tony Paulauski Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
815-464-1832 (CELL)
Tony@www.thearcofil.org
