From The Arc of Illinois...

[Guest guest]

The Arc of Illinois

December 11, 2008

Leaders in The Arc:

Another hearing on the closing of the state institution in Tinley

Park, Howe will be held today. The hearing will begin at 4:00 p.m. at

the Tinley Park Convention Center, 18300 and Harlem Ave, Tinley Park.

Advocates need to let their legislators know that they do not support

Howe or the institutionalization of over 2,500 individuals with

developmental in state institutions around Illinois.

Legislators need to know there is a better way to support people and

the " Blueprint for System Design in Illinois " shows us the way.

Four points you can make with your legislators:

Legislators should endorse the " Blueprint " and begin to fund a plan

for implementation of the " Blueprint " for the developmental

disability system.

Legislators must support borrowing to pay community services on time.

Current payments are 90 to 120 days behind for community providers!

This means community providers have to take out loans to pay their

employees and other important expenses.

Legislators need to support that all new Medicaid funds received by

the state from the closing of Howe be reinvested in the community

developmental disabilities system. The closing of Howe will result in

over $30 million in new funds from the federal government. These

funds must be used in the community to begin the implementation of

the " Blueprint. "

My testimony on the closing of Howe follows. I will be joining a

panel of other advocates at this hearing.

Tony auski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

Commission on Forecasting & Accountability

Testimony Regarding the Closing of Howe

Tony auski

Executive Director

· All law-abiding Americans deserve to live, participate and

work in their community as equals. And, as a nation, no Americans

should be isolated from society unless they are a danger to others or

themselves.

· Illinois ranks at the bottom in terms of providing services

for individuals with developmental disabilities. Too many citizens

with developmental disabilities are " locked up " in institutions - a

system that is expensive and limits individual freedoms and

opportunities. We need to take action now before it's too late.

· Institutions deny people their personal freedoms and the right

to self-determination. Services are provided to all, whether they're

needed or not, and people aren't allowed to choose what they eat,

wear or even when to wake up and go to bed.

· Women and men with developmental disabilities who live in

institutions are more likely to be abused than their non-disabled

peers. It is likely that if you are a woman and you live in an

institution, you are going to be sexuality abused at some time.

· It is time to redesign the developmental disabilities system

in Illinois while we still can. It is what people want. It is what

people need. Howe needs to be closed.

Regarding Illinois' over reliance on institutions

· We have nine state institutions for about 2,500 individuals.

Do we really need nine, when other states are rapidly closing their

institutions? There are now ten states without any state institutions.

· Indiana has closed all of its institutions. Michigan and

Minnesota operate only one.

· The state institution in Tinley Park (Howe) remains open after

the deaths of eleven people who have died since September, 2005 due

to substantial health and safety violations.

· Those violations were so abhorrent that the Centers for

Medicare & Medicaid withdrew their $26.5 million dollar support to

Howe and decertified Howe. Now Howe is only funded by the state at a

cost of $53 million per year with no Federal matching funds.

· The Auditor General in his 2006 audit puts the cost of Howe at

$151,000 per person. All of it state-only funding.

· More important than federal funding is the human toll. I ask

you, if you as legislators, if you learned that eleven patients had

died under questionable circumstances in a local hospital in your

community, what would you think? I think you would be outraged! Where

is the outrage in Illinois?

· The Department of Justice and the Centers for Medicare &

Medicaid are all over state institutions in Illinois because of abuse

and neglect situations.

· Statewide, the cost for one person in a large, state-run

institution averages more than $125,000 per year. It is a fact that

today most people are able to live in the community with tailored

supports that, on average, can be provided for less than half that

cost. We need to redesign the Illinois system.

· We should be implementing the " Blueprint for System Redesign

in Illinois. " The Blueprint is a seven-year call to action to

initiate real change, including improvements in the quality of life

for people and establishing the high-quality community services

system this state greatly deserves.

· It is time to redesign the Illinois system and reinvest in

communities and families as many other states have already done. The

time is now.

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