Money Follows the Person Passed the House – Continue the Advocacy!
Last night, the short term funding of MFP in the IMPROVE Act (which also includes extending the spousal impoverishment protections to Medicaid HCBS participants) just passed the House, with only 11 nay votes!!

Now we turn to the Senate and hope for a vote this week.  Senator Durbin just signed on as a co-sponsor so we want to make sure to thank him and Senator Duckworth through social media for their support and action on this bill.  Since our Senators are supporters, please do the following:

Upcoming Events – Supportive Housing Know Your Options
Just in case you missed that there are a series of free know your options events focused on housing and services coming up.  Click here to check out the locations.

  • Thursday, December 13, 2018 -12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Wellness Center in Country Club Hills, 4411 W. Gatling Blvd., Country Club Hills;
  • Wednesday, December 19, 2018 -12:00 -2:00 p.m. at Waters Edge in Elgin, 418 S. Center St., Elgin;
  • Thursday, January 3, 2018 -6:30 -8:30 p.m. at PhilHaven in Wheeling; 2418 E. Hintz Rd., Wheeling

STATE NEWS

Director Changes
As you know, Melissa Wright is planning on leaving January 15 and Kathy Ward will be stepping in as interim Director.  It is unclear about when a permanent Director will be appointed but we would expect it to be after the announcement of an HFS administrator and DHS Director.

Transition
The Healthy Children and Family Transition group is meeting again today, prioritizing themes and working to identify 5-8 areas of focus.  This group is one of the groups that will talk about services and supports for people with I/DD, but it also covers kids, families, aging, mental health and more.  They hope to produce a 5-8 page set of recommendations along with the other committees.  We are working with folks on that committee to make sure consumers and families are included in the discussion as well as have submitted recommendations to the Equality, Equity and Opportunity Committee and Education Committee.  There is a new Jobs Committee announced last week and we are working to make sure people with disabilities are included in that discussion as well.

Governor-Elect Pritzker $15 per hour
Last week Governor-Elect Pritzker indicated he was going to push for a $15 per hour minimum wage within the next 6 months.  We support this idea as long as it includes increases in state funding for staff funded through state contracts including DSPs and others.  The They Deserve More Campaign is currently working on legislative language to reflect an effort to raise wages to ABOVE the minimum wage because we believe DSPs should not be paid minimum wage for what they do.  More on this when the language is set.  If you want to learn more about the They Deserve More Campaign, check out http://www.theydeservemore.com/.

ISC NOFO
It is now in the Divisions hands to determine who will be awarded for the new contracts that will start in July 2019.  There are 12 regions and applicants can go after more than one region.  The Division has indicated that they are almost ready to announce the winners of the NOFO, but we know they will definitely announce by January 2 if not before.  The Division has also indicated that they have developed a transition plan for changes to support families and individuals to know if they will have new points of contacts.  More to come!

Supports Waiver
The Division is proposing a new option for the home and community based services waiver – a supports waiver, which would allow individuals to have a menu of services at a funding level based partially on their level of support needs.  The Division held three meetings of self advocates and families of which the Arc and Arc members participated.  Now they are hearing from service providers and ISCs next week in Springfield.  We will be there!  There is potential here for new flexibility for families, as long as it is funded properly and we maintain our choices.

Respite Contracts
Respite is a line item that continues to be funded.  The Division is planning on releasing a contracting process in the new year.  This is potential exciting for regions around the state that currently don’t have access to respite services.  For individuals and families, there is an opportunity to encourage service providers to apply for the funds.  More information to follow.

Upcoming Events – Supportive Housing Know Your Options
Just in case you missed that there are a series of free know your options events focused on housing and services coming up.  Click here to check out the locations.

  • Thursday, December 13, 2018 -12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Wellness Center in Country Club Hills, 4411 W. Gatling Blvd., Country Club Hills;
  • Wednesday, December 19, 2018 -12:00 -2:00 p.m. at Waters Edge in Elgin, 418 S. Center St., Elgin;
  • Thursday, January 3, 2018 -6:30 -8:30 p.m. at PhilHaven in Wheeling; 2418 E. Hintz Rd., Wheeling

Meg Cooch
Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209​
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
Meg@thearcofil.org