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SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Olmstead v.
3L.C. Ex Rel. Zimring, 119 S. Ct. 2176 (1999), held that under
4Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), States
5are required to provide community based treatment for persons
6with mental disabilities when the State's treatment
7professionals determine that such placement is appropriate,
8the affected persons do not oppose such treatment, and the
9placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account
10the resources available to the State and the needs of others
11with mental disabilities; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Title II of the ADA further states that a public
13entity shall administer services, programs, and activities in
14the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of
15individuals with disabilities, defining that setting as one
16that enables individuals with disabilities to interact with
17non-disabled persons to the fullest extent possible; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Almost 10 years after the Olmstead decision, a
19report titled "The State of the States in Disabilities 2008" by
20the Department of Psychiatry and Coleman Institute for
21Cognitive Disabilities of the University of Colorado ranks the
22State of Illinois 40th nationally in fiscal effort for services
23for individuals with developmental disabilities, including all

 

 

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1home based programs, group home, and congregate care; 43rd in
2State fiscal effort for community services; 47th in home and
3community-based waiver spending per capita; and 51st in serving
4persons with developmental disabilities in environments of 6 or
5less; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The State has not adequately invested funding for
7home and community-based services for individuals with
8developmental disabilities, and has cut funding for those
9services in the past 3 State fiscal year budgets; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Funding for home and community-based services
11does not currently meet the cost of providing those services
12and supports due to inflationary pressures, increased
13personnel costs, mandated increases in minimum wage, rising
14health insurance costs, and the increased cost of doing
15business with vendors; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Wages for community-based direct service
17professionals are generally at or barely above the poverty
18level for a single person supporting one or more children,
19leading to excessive turnover and undermining the availability
20of quality services; and
 
21    WHEREAS, "Person-centered" means that services and
22supports are identified and authorized to address the specific

 

 

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1needs of each person as a result of an individualized
2assessment and through a person-centered planning process; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Illinois has a disproportionate number of
4Illinois citizens with developmental disabilities who are
5served in Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally
6Disabled and State-Operated Developmental Centers (SODC); and
 
7    WHEREAS, Data shows that Illinois lags substantially
8behind nearly all other states in fostering the provision of
9services in the most integrated setting; the Illinois
10utilization rate for SODC services in 2009 was 18.0 individuals
11per 100,000 persons in the general population; the nationwide
12utilization rate in 2009 was 11.1 individuals per 100,000 in
13the general population; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The majority of other states have significantly
15reduced their utilization of large state-operated facilities;
16in order for Illinois to achieve parity with the national
17average by 2017, Illinois would need to serve an average of
188.9% fewer individuals in SODCs annually; and
 
19    WHEREAS, As long as the State continues to perpetuate short
20term measures to address crises in the system, in the long
21term, Illinois will perpetuate its inability to serve the
22growing number of individuals with developmental disabilities

 

 

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1who are not currently receiving services; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The total budget for all services across all
3settings for persons with developmental disabilities falls far
4short of what is needed for a quality service system; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Human Services'
6Division of Developmental Disabilities (Division) developed
7and released its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011-2017 in
8July 2010 which aims to substantively reorient Division
9priorities and resources to support a truly person-centered
10system of services for which there is a popular mandate;
11therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
13ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
14CONCURRING HEREIN, that in alignment with the Division's 7-year
15Strategic Plan, all children and adults with developmental
16disabilities living in Illinois will receive high quality
17services guided by a person-centered plan that maximizes
18individual choice and flexibility in the most integrated
19setting possible regardless of intensity or severity of need;
20and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the Division's Strategic Plan will employ
22national utilization or funding rates as benchmarks to measure

 

 

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1progress, and the Division will continue to monitor the
2Prioritization of Urgency of Need for Services (PUNS) waiting
3list to evaluate system-wide service needs; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That Illinois will implement at least one new,
5outcome-based model for service delivery that improves the
6coordination and integration of habilitation, social, and
7clinical care for people with developmental disabilities; and
8be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That the number of individuals living in the most
10integrated settings will achieve parity with the national
11utilization rates so that more individuals will live in
12settings of 6 or less; fewer individuals will live in private
13intermediate care facilities for individuals with
14developmental disabilities; and fewer individuals will live in
15SODCs; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That in order to ensure positive outcomes for all
17persons, Illinois will work to achieve parity with the average
18national rate of funding for developmental disability services
19in order to achieve the goals set forth by the Division's
207-year Strategic Plan; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That more individuals with developmental
22disabilities will receive integrated employment services to

 

 

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1achieve parity with the national utilization rates; and be it
2further
 
3    RESOLVED, That the number of people receiving
4Medicaid-funded Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) will
5achieve parity with national utilization rates; and be it
6further
 
7    RESOLVED, That the disparity between wages paid to State of
8Illinois employees and community-based direct service
9professionals will be reduced; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That Illinois will seek to provide funding for an
11annual cost-of-living increase for community-based direct
12service employees in order to ensure that these workers receive
13a fair wage that allows them to support their families; and be
14it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That the Division will develop a comprehensive,
16integrated data management system that captures, aggregates,
17and analyzes data from various sources, allowing timely
18analysis of service processes and outcomes; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That persons with developmental disabilities are
20linked to the services that best meet their needs and to
21promote that linkage there must be an effective service

 

 

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1coordination system that is available to all regardless of
2geographic or network boundaries and available to support
3individuals, families, and guardians; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, That persons with developmental disabilities
5will be actively involved in policy discussions and will be
6respected as partners in the process, making informed choices
7and decisions in order to support productive and fulfilling
8lives; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That the input from families and guardians will
10be respected and taken into consideration in conjunction with
11the wishes of the individual; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois recognizes that home
13and community providers are a vital part of healthy communities
14and are counted on by individuals and families and the State to
15support their goals and therefore should be listened to and
16respected; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That the allocation of resources to support
18people with developmental disabilities will accurately reflect
19service demand and be a priority at all levels of government
20and for the citizens of Illinois and that funding for
21developmental disabilities services will be realigned to
22reflect the strategic priorities and benchmarks identified in

 

 

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1the Division's 7-year Strategic Plan; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That future budgets shall take into
3consideration the steps necessary to achieve the plans laid out
4in this joint resolution; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to the
6Governor, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services,
7the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget,
8and all members of the General Assembly.