Full Text of HJR0044

HJ0044 LRB104 15450 LAW 28606 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Community Integrated Living Arrangements (CILAs), or group homes, provide community-based housing and essential support for nearly 10,336 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) across Illinois, many of whom require extensive supervision and care; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is under the Ligas Consent Decree, requiring expanded access to community-based services for individuals with I/DD, and has repeatedly been found out of compliance; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Developmental Disabilities (DHS-DDD) Guidehouse Rate Study, published in 2020, outlined several I/DD rate changes based on approved recommendations by the Ligas Rates Oversight Committee; from 2021 to 2025, DHS has implemented portions of the rate study, and the General Assembly has made significant investments into the I/DD community system; and

WHEREAS, Beginning January 1, 2026, the final FY26 budget for the State of Illinois eliminates $11.2 million in funding for CILA providers, reducing services for all 24-hour CILA residents, thereby threatening care quality and compliance with federal home and community-based services regulations; and

WHEREAS, Removing this funding from the I/DD system is a piecemeal approach that does not consider the wholistic funding needs presented in the DHS-DDD Guidehouse Rate Study that exist as result of the Ligas Consent Decree; and

WHEREAS, Cuts to CILA Direct Support Professional (DSP) service hours will result in reductions in services for people with I/DD, particularly those with the most intense needs, resulting in high levels of system destabilization and service degradation over the long term; and

WHEREAS, Some crucial priorities contained within the DHS-DDD Guidehouse Rate Study remain fully unfunded such as the "Zero Hour" Staffing Model, which funds staff for 24 hours a day, seven days a week and would add 2.4 million DSP service hours into the system; and

WHEREAS, Removing CILA DSP Service hours from the State's I/DD system as is contained within the FY26 final budget, only to reinsert CILA DSP Service Hours associated with implementation of the "Zero Hour" Staffing Model at a future date, is budgetarily inefficient and unhealthy for system stability; and

WHEREAS, Significant cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs that provide care to thousands in Illinois in the I/DD community have created great uncertainty for individuals, families, providers, lawmakers, and advocates, and more time is needed to fully understand and plan for those impacts on I/DD services; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Pritzker Administration to delay cuts to Direct Service Professional (DSP) service hours set to begin January 1,2026, until such time as the State is prepared to implement the "Zero Hour" Staffing Model, to protect the services depended on by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD); and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, the President and Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate, and the Illinois Department of Human Services-Division of Developmental Disabilities.