NEW! Secretary Grace Hou to Speak at Arc Convention, April 24!  Join Us!  Register here.

Save the Date for the Going Home Rally May 16 – Inclusion First!

State Legislation
The DPS wage bill was heard this morning in a subject matter hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.  With more than 2,500 slips, the effort was to reinforce the crisis we are seeing and encourage the legislators to include wages in the budget this year.  PLEASE SHARE: Here is a video that you can share hot off the press from the They Deserve More.  Click to watch the video

Other Bill Update
We are also supporting an Assistive Technology pilot bill (similar to recommendations coming out of the AT subcommittee of the rates committee).  The Personal Needs Allowance bill is being amended and we are waiting to hear when it will be heard.  The new bill would focus on a cost of living increase rather than a higher 15% increase.  We expect a subject matter hearing potentially next week on the subminimum wage bill as well but we do not expect that or the Disability Inclusion Act moving this year.

Federal Update
Another short term extension of Money Follows the Person has passed the House.  We continue to advocate for a longer term 5 year funding of MFP and also add some permanent flexibility to move people, and the Arc of the US is working to push it through in a larger Medicaid bill later this year.  There are additional efforts to create legislation that would help to support states and providers to address the HCBS settings rule implementation.  More to come on this bill!

We are watching regulatory change at the federal level as well.  With the latest CMS letter regarding the HCBS settings rule (see my previous update), we are encouraged that the administration will not try to pull back the rule entirely.  However, the Arc of the US is watching for a potential reopening of rules around WIOA (Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act) which talks about prioritizing work and competitive employment before subminimum wage/sheltered work.  Apparently there is interest in reopening discussions about competitive integrated employment.  More on this soon.

DDD Announcements
Ligas Quality Tool Released
The most recent Ligas Implementation Plan requires an evaluation of services provided to Ligas class members who currently reside in community integrated living arrangements (CILA).  A summary of that evaluation process is provided below.  The full tool is here.

  • A representative sample of approximately 275 Ligas class members who are receiving CILA services will be reviewed.
  • A total of 12 surveyors will conduct the reviews.  The surveyors consist of a combination of staff selected by the Ligas court monitor, staff from CQL (The Council on Quality and Leadership), and staff from the Division’s Bureau of Quality Management.  All surveyors received training required by the Ligas Court Monitor.
  • A comprehensive review instrument has been developed and approved by the court monitor.  Reviews will include a face-to-face meeting with the individual, visits to the CILA and other waiver program sites frequented by the individual, record review, guardian interviews, and CILA staff interviews.  A copy of the survey instrument is attached.
  • On-site visits will begin in April 2019 and continue through December 2019.  The date of the on-site visits will be shared with the guardian, the individual, provider agencies, and the ISC prior to arrival of the surveyors.
  • Prior to the on-site visit, the ISC and provider agencies will be asked to provide a number of documents to the surveyors including personal plans, implementation strategies, data, assessments, and documentation of services provided.

The information gathered by the surveyors will be compiled by the court monitor and used to evaluate the overall quality of services provided to Ligas class members.  The results will be used to assess compliance with the consent decree and to identify if changes are needed to the current service system.

As additional information about the compliance review process and results is available, it will be shared on the Illinois Department of Human Services’ website here:  Ligas Information

Please direct questions regarding Ligas activities, including the compliance review process, to Andrea Medley, Ligas Coordinator, by phone at 217-524-2520 or email Andrea.Medley@illinois.gov.  In addition, you may also contact the Ligas Court Monitor, Ronnie Cohn, at ligas.monitor@gmail.com with questions regarding the compliance review process.

New Service Code: 31C – Community Day Service (Community Location)
http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=115441