Fw: Arc and Governor to Close ville

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Arc and Governor to Close villeFYI

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...

Arc and Governor to Close ville

Well, the Governor's Rebalancing Initiative started today when

he announced the closing of JDC and Tinley Park Mental Health Center. Is this

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Dear Ellen,

See the details of the Governor's plan to rebalance the

disability system. We appreciate the Governor's leadership on this important

initiative.

Director Casey and Office of the Governor

Transition of Care Project Manager Mark Doyle will be at our Annual Leadership

Conference. Click on to this link to register!

Tony

Office of Governor Pat Quinn

NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Brie

Callahan (o. 312-814-3158; c. 312-636-5989)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

(o. 217-782-7355; c.312-590-0195)

Governor Quinn Announces

Active Community Care Transition Plan

Rebalancing Plan Will Increase Community Care Options

for

People with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health

Conditions

SPRINGFIELD – January 19, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn

today announced a plan to rebalance the state’s approach to care for

individuals with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions. Called

the Active Community Care Transition (ACCT) plan, the initiative will increase

the number of people with developmental disabilities and mental health

conditions living in community care settings across Illinois. Under the first

phase of the plan, residents of ville Developmental Center (JDC) in

ville, IL and patients of Tinley Park Mental Health Center (MHC) in

Tinley Park, IL will be transitioned to community settings and the facilities

eventually closed.

“My administration is committed to increasing

community care options and improving the quality of life for people with

developmental disabilities and mental health conditions,†Governor Quinn said.

“The approach we are taking will allow for the safe transition of care for

some of our most vulnerable citizens to community care settings. I want to thank

the members of the public, the General Assembly and advocates who worked with my

administration to meet this challenge and help our state move forward.â€

Rebalancing Background

In November, the Quinn administration announced its

intention to rebalance Illinois’ use of institutionalization for the care of

people with developmental disabilities. Illinois lags behind the rest of the

nation in the utilization of person-centered, community-based care, which has

been demonstrated to allow people with developmental disabilities to lead more

active, dynamic lives.

Community settings allow individuals to receive the care

they need – including 24-hour care – in their hometown and even their family

home. Community care can also be significantly less costly than

institution-based care. The ACCT also dovetails with the administration’s

recent settlement of a series of court cases related to the Americans with

Disabilities Act, requiring the expansion of community care settings.

The administration has worked collaboratively with the

General Assembly on this initiative, receiving valuable input from members of

the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) following

public hearings in October and November. The General Assembly also worked with

the administration to reallocate funds to allow continued operation of all state

facilities through the end of Fiscal Year 2012 (June 30, 2012).

In December, the administration created a bipartisan and

bicameral working group, with members appointed by the four legislative leaders,

to seek input on the rebalancing and closure process. Incorporating their input,

the administration developed a series of objective criteria to determine the

facilities that will transition to closure, including ability to recruit staff,

economic impact, certification status and physical condition. As different

issues affect the Division of Developmental Disabilities and the Division of

Mental Health, 10 criteria were developed for the former, 18 for the latter.

The ACCT is a policy decision that also has

positive fiscal benefits for the state. In addition to improving quality of life

for hundreds of individuals across the state, the move is expected to save the

state of Illinois $19.8 million annually, and allow for alternative uses of some

of the state’s costliest facilities.

Transition Plan Development and Implementation

To accomplish the plan safely and effectively, the

administration brought on Mark Doyle as the state’s Transition of Care Project

Manager in October. Mr. Doyle has 33 years of experience in the disability

community and has worked in several states to expand community care options and

move away from institutionalization. Mr. Doyle is nationally known for his work

in the area of community integration and inclusion of people with disabilities

in all areas of life. He is highly recognized for his involvement in providing

technical assistance to states, community provider agencies, schools and parent

groups to create successful community integration.

Mr. Doyle, working alongside senior members of the

administration and the Department of Human Services (DHS), developed the ACCT,

which includes a comprehensive plan to build additional community capacity and

infrastructure for care, as well as a grant to hire nationally-recognized

Community Resource Associates (CRA) to conduct independent needs evaluations of

each resident of state facilities to ensure they have the resources they need

for a successful transition to community care.

The ACCT calls for a “person-centered approachâ€,

meaning that individuals and their families will be a significant part of

designing the program that best fits their needs and desires. In accordance with

the ‘money follows the person approach’ to rebalancing, after evaluations,

each transitioning resident will receive an individualized budget based on their

particular support needs. Those with more challenging needs will receive more

funds for their care with the average anticipated budget of $7,000 a month per

person. The smaller community care options will also allow the state to utilize

federal funding for this purpose, reducing state costs.

While there are numerous community care settings

currently available in Illinois, the increase in the number of individuals using

community care will require the state to develop new settings and options.

Unlike state institutions, which may be hundreds of miles from an individual’s

hometown, individuals and families will have the choice of community in which

their care options are developed. Options will also be available for community

care at home, if the individual and their family desires.

The ACCT will also utilize both family-to-family and

individual-to-individual mentoring strategies, so that individuals and families

will know what to expect and have a support system in place during and after

transition. For interested individual and families, the state is also

establishing microboards and cooperatives to guide and develop person-centered

services options. The administration will work closely with the Illinois

Association of Microboards and ative in educating individuals and families

as well as providing the technical assistance for those interested in that

option.

Division of Developmental Disabilities – ville

Developmental Center

In DHS’ Division of Developmental Disabilities, a

total of 600 individuals will transition into community settings over the next

two and a half years, allowing DHS to close up to four state institutions, the

first of which will be JDC. Working with the individual, parents and guardians,

residents at JDC will be evaluated to determine their needs and their

individualized and appropriate community care option. A good match between the

individual’s needs and community care option is essential to ensure a

successful transition.

“Community-based care is about quality of life,â€

director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities Casey said.

“Through this careful, deliberate process, Illinois will improve quality of

life for hundreds of people with developmental disabilities, while realizing

significant savings through the closure of a costly state facility.â€

One of the advantages of community care is its much

lower cost compared to institution-based care. For people with developmental

disabilities, the state spends on average, between $150,000 and $210,000 per

person per year in a state facility, versus the $45,000 to $84,000 per year

average in community care.

Matching individuals with both existing and new

providers, the ACCT calls for 20 residents a month to move from JDC into

community care settings. JDC is anticipated to complete transitions in time for

an early October 2012 closure.

Division of Mental Health – Tinley Park MHC

In the Division of Mental Health (DMH), Tinley Park MHC

will be phased out, with an increase in capacity at community providers and

hospitals in the area for those with acute mental health conditions. Tinley Park

MHC currently serves only acute-care patients, whose treatment periods usually

last between 24 hours and 21 days. Admissions will be halted, allowing all

patients to complete their course of treatment before the anticipated early July

2012 closure. Patients with challenges that require ongoing care will be

transitioned to care at community providers or hospitals.

Aside from forensic patients remanded into state custody

by the courts, state-run mental health facilities primarily serve acute care

patients who do not have access to health insurance or Medicaid. As the

Affordable Care Act continues going into effect, many people currently without

access to health coverage will attain it, reducing the number of beds needed in

state-run psychiatric hospitals and mental health facilities. The DMH, however,

is actively securing additional beds at community providers and hospitals in the

area surrounding Tinley Park MHC to ensure that services in the area are not

interrupted.

“The health and safety of those with mental health

conditions is our primary concern,†director of the Division of Mental Health

Dr. Lorrie said. “This transition will allow us to expand our community

and hospital partners while ensuring continued care for those with mental health

challenges.â€

Closure of Facilities

While improving quality of life is the fundamental

purpose of the ACCT, closure of state facilities is expected to save the state

of Illinois significant annualized costs. Facilities chosen for closure were

evaluated based on 10 objective criteria developed by the administration, with

input from members of the legislative workgroup. The first phase of this

transition will allow the state to close JDC and Tinley Park MHC, two of the

state’s oldest, most inefficient, and costliest facilities to run.

JDC currently costs the state approximately $27.9

million per year to run. After accounting for state costs under community care,

Illinois will realize approximately $11.7 million per year in savings, after

$16.2 million in community investment. Tinley Park MHC would cost $20.6 million

to run in FY 2013. Savings following the closure of Tinley MHC are expected to

be approximately $8.1 million after a $9.8 million reinvestment in community

services for individuals with mental health challenges.

The physical condition of the facilities was a vital

criterion in considering which facilities to transition to closure. Parts of JDC

date from the 1850s, and the coal boiler at the facility spends $1.2 million in

coal per year, or about $7,000 per resident to heat per year. Of the 8 buildings

at Tinley Park MHC, only 5 are operational. The facility was decertified by the

federal government in 2009, with recertification unlikely. The Tinley Park

facility also shares a campus with the previously closed Howe Developmental

Center, preventing the sale of prime real estate for development in Chicago’s

south suburbs.

Economic impact was also a criterion in evaluating

facilities for transition to closure. The administration realizes that the

closure of state facilities will have an economic impact on ville, Tinley

Park and their surrounding communities. However, an Economic Impact Index

examination demonstrated that the impacts on ville and Tinley Park were

among the lowest of communities with state facilities.

The JDC currently employs 379 and Tinley Park MHC

employs 175 people. Many of these jobs, however, will be absorbed into the local

communities. As part of the ACCT development, the Illinois Department of

Employment Security (IDES) ran a survey of employers in the counties surrounding

each state facility for job openings with titles matching those at each site

(i.e., registered nurse openings in the ville area). As of January 9,

2012:

a.. 95 matching job titles matching 679 openings

existed in the counties surrounding the JDC, and

b.. 295 matching job titles matching 14,015 openings

existed in the counties surrounding Tinley Park MHC.

The development of community care in these areas will

also result in additional job creation in these areas.

The administration will provide regular updates to

families, communities, unions, advocates and legislators on the first phase of

the ACCT, as well as announcements later in the year for phase two and beyond as

Illinois continues its transition to increased community care options.

###

Tony auski

Executive Director

The Arc of Illinois

20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209

fort, IL 60423

815-464-1832 (OFFICE)

708-828-0188 (CELL)

Tony@...

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