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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Disability is a natural part of the human | ||||||
3 | experience that does not diminish the right of individuals with | ||||||
4 | developmental disabilities to live independently, to exert | ||||||
5 | control and choice over their own lives, and to fully | ||||||
6 | participate in and contribute to their communities through full | ||||||
7 | inclusion and participation in the economic, political, | ||||||
8 | social, cultural, and educational mainstream of their chosen | ||||||
9 | community and United States society; and
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10 | WHEREAS, People who experience developmental disabilities, | ||||||
11 | and their families, ask quite little, given their challenges; | ||||||
12 | one thing that is critical to them is the confidence that, when | ||||||
13 | needed, they will have access to the supports and services that | ||||||
14 | will ameliorate a crisis or trauma and that will provide | ||||||
15 | long-term stability and quality of life for them; confidence at | ||||||
16 | this level requires a long-term public policy that guarantees | ||||||
17 | that needed opportunities for supports and services are | ||||||
18 | available each year; it also requires the confidence that the | ||||||
19 | supports and services that are available are responsive to the | ||||||
20 | needs of the individual; and | ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Individuals with developmental disabilities | ||||||
22 | should be supported individually, and individual choices and | ||||||
23 | preferences should be the primary source of direction for | ||||||
24 | services and supports they receive; and | ||||||
25 | WHEREAS, Federal law and recent court cases have clearly | ||||||
26 | defined the State's responsibility to support each person's | ||||||
27 | choice to live in the community of his or her choice rather | ||||||
28 | than in an institutional facility; and | ||||||
29 | WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court decision in | ||||||
30 | Olmstead ex rel. Zimring v. L.C., 119 S.Ct. 2176 (1999), held | ||||||
31 | that persons with disabilities have a right to receive |
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1 | State-funded services and programs in the most inclusive | ||||||
2 | setting appropriate to meet their needs and to participate in | ||||||
3 | community life to the fullest extent possible; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois, through the Department of | ||||||
5 | Human Services, intends to incur capital and operational costs | ||||||
6 | to develop and operate 4 10-bed intermediate care facilities | ||||||
7 | for the developmentally disabled on the grounds of the former | ||||||
8 | Lincoln Developmental Center, which is physically segregated | ||||||
9 | from the surrounding, mainstream community; and | ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, This Department development project is being | ||||||
11 | designed and negotiated without any direct involvement of the | ||||||
12 | 40 people who experience developmental disabilities who may be | ||||||
13 | asked to live in that institutional facility complex; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, The development of living environments and | ||||||
15 | program components in such facilities without the direct | ||||||
16 | involvement of the people who experience developmental | ||||||
17 | disabilities is in direct conflict with long-standing and | ||||||
18 | well-articulated Department policy on person-centered planning | ||||||
19 | and very clear and well-articulated national standards of best | ||||||
20 | practice for the development of supports and services for | ||||||
21 | people who experience developmental disabilities; and | ||||||
22 | WHEREAS, The aforementioned Department project perpetuates | ||||||
23 | the current supply-driven approach to services, which is not | ||||||
24 | based on what people who experience developmental disabilities | ||||||
25 | articulate as their need but which in actuality seeks to | ||||||
26 | redress the needs of other, non-disabled people or communities; | ||||||
27 | and | ||||||
28 | WHEREAS, The aforementioned Department project perpetuates | ||||||
29 | the over-reliance on State-operated developmental centers to | ||||||
30 | provide economic development rather than serve individuals | ||||||
31 | with developmental needs; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, The Illinois developmental disabilities system | ||||||
2 | has been demonstrated to have institutional and congregate | ||||||
3 | capacities that are significantly above the national norm and | ||||||
4 | inconsistent with consumer demand, which forces those same | ||||||
5 | individuals with developmental disabilities and their families | ||||||
6 | to choose services they don't need or don't want or to not be | ||||||
7 | able to access services at all; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Recent national experience demonstrates that | ||||||
9 | economies of scale assumed to be associated with large | ||||||
10 | institutional facilities do not exist or are not equal to | ||||||
11 | related reductions in costs that are offered by supporting the | ||||||
12 | choice of people who experience developmental disabilities to | ||||||
13 | access appropriate community care; and | ||||||
14 | WHEREAS, The supporting access to appropriate supports and | ||||||
15 | services in the community, developed and designed in response | ||||||
16 | to consumer choice, represents sound public policy because it | ||||||
17 | is the right thing to do for citizens who experience | ||||||
18 | developmental disabilities and are vulnerable and | ||||||
19 | disadvantaged and experience difficulties and because the | ||||||
20 | direct and indirect benefits to the community as a whole are | ||||||
21 | both positive and tangible; and | ||||||
22 | WHEREAS, The aforementioned consumer-driven approach would | ||||||
23 | be more effective and efficient and would support existing, | ||||||
24 | sound public policy and a cohesive policy and planning | ||||||
25 | structure; and | ||||||
26 | WHEREAS, Our nation and the State of Illinois must offer | ||||||
27 | the opportunity for and support all people who experience | ||||||
28 | developmental disabilities to realize their own vision for | ||||||
29 | their lives; to accomplish this, families, friends, allies, | ||||||
30 | communities, provider agencies, professionals, advocates, and | ||||||
31 | government alike must work in partnership to do whatever it |
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1 | takes to enable each individual to realize her or his unique | ||||||
2 | vision, and this will happen only when public policy decisions | ||||||
3 | are organized first and foremost around the choice and needs of | ||||||
4 | individual citizens who experience developmental disabilities; | ||||||
5 | and | ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, The State has a fundamental responsibility to | ||||||
7 | allow people with developmental disabilities now residing in | ||||||
8 | communities and State-operated facilities to determine where | ||||||
9 | they want to live based upon sound principles of | ||||||
10 | person-centered planning; therefore, be it | ||||||
11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
12 | NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
13 | strongly urge the Governor, the executive and legislative | ||||||
14 | branches of State government, and the Illinois Department of | ||||||
15 | Human Services to do the following:
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16 | (1) Take the immediate actions necessary to redirect | ||||||
17 | and utilize existing appropriations in the capital and | ||||||
18 | operating budgets and the proposed FY 05 executive budgets | ||||||
19 | of the Capital Development Board and the Illinois | ||||||
20 | Department of Human Services that are earmarked for the | ||||||
21 | Lincoln Developmental Center to support 40 individuals | ||||||
22 | with developmental disabilities; | ||||||
23 | (2) Develop a model approach consistent with national | ||||||
24 | best practice for person-centered and consumer-directed | ||||||
25 | planning and service delivery to identify and develop the | ||||||
26 | living environments, supports, and services for the 40 | ||||||
27 | identified individuals; | ||||||
28 | (3) Consult with a nationally recognized expert in the | ||||||
29 | field of developmental disabilities, person-centered and | ||||||
30 | consumer-directed service planning and service delivery, | ||||||
31 | and the community-based systems of services to assist the | ||||||
32 | State in formulating the model approach and to oversee the | ||||||
33 | development of person-centered and consumer-directed | ||||||
34 | individualized support plans and appropriate funding |
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1 | allocations, using the following principles: | ||||||
2 | (a) People and families must participate as valued | ||||||
3 | and empowered partners in all decision-making; | ||||||
4 | opinions of individuals and families are continuously | ||||||
5 | sought to inform policy making and system improvement; | ||||||
6 | (b) Family members, friends, and members of the | ||||||
7 | community can play an important role in enhancing the | ||||||
8 | lives of individuals with developmental disabilities, | ||||||
9 | especially when the family members, friends, and | ||||||
10 | community members are provided with the necessary | ||||||
11 | community services, individualized supports, and other | ||||||
12 | forms of assistance; | ||||||
13 | (c) Each person shall have the authority to define | ||||||
14 | and pursue his or her own vision; individuals with | ||||||
15 | developmental disabilities and family members feel | ||||||
16 | welcome to express their ideas, needs, and | ||||||
17 | preferences, as well as lead and direct the development | ||||||
18 | of their support plans with assistance, as needed, from | ||||||
19 | service coordinators, guardians, and other similar | ||||||
20 | persons; | ||||||
21 | (d) Self-determination or consumer-direction is | ||||||
22 | the organizing principle for service planning and | ||||||
23 | delivery; people and families are entitled to freedom, | ||||||
24 | authority, and support to control, direct, and manage | ||||||
25 | their own services, supports, and funding; individuals | ||||||
26 | have the capacity and the right to choose where and | ||||||
27 | with whom they live; | ||||||
28 | (e) Personal relationships and community | ||||||
29 | membership are valued; people have support to take part | ||||||
30 | in social, spiritual, recreational, and community | ||||||
31 | activities of their choice; | ||||||
32 | (f) All networks and systems of support must | ||||||
33 | collaborate in support of the person's vision; people | ||||||
34 | have one plan that pulls together all sources of paid, | ||||||
35 | generic, and natural supports in pursuit of their | ||||||
36 | personal vision; and |
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1 | (g) There must be resolute, continuous commitment | ||||||
2 | to achieve excellence in all dimensions of supporting | ||||||
3 | individuals and families; | ||||||
4 | (4) Demonstrate to individuals with developmental | ||||||
5 | disabilities and their families that there is a commitment | ||||||
6 | to long-range public policy goals that do not have an | ||||||
7 | institutional bias, and that this commitment offers as a | ||||||
8 | goal appropriate, quality, cost-effective supports and | ||||||
9 | services in sufficient quality to meet their needs, is | ||||||
10 | based solely on the direct articulation of needs and choice | ||||||
11 | by consumers, and results in a demand-driven system of | ||||||
12 | services and supports; | ||||||
13 | (5) Demonstrate the State's commitment to make related | ||||||
14 | public policy decisions that are consistent with | ||||||
15 | long-range strategic goals for people who experience | ||||||
16 | developmental disabilities that are developed in | ||||||
17 | partnership with people with developmental disabilities; | ||||||
18 | and | ||||||
19 | (6) File a report consistent with this Resolution and | ||||||
20 | paragraphs (1) through (5) with the House of | ||||||
21 | Representatives on or before December 31, 2004; and be it | ||||||
22 | further | ||||||
23 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Department of Human Services and | ||||||
24 | the Administration to cooperate in taking the actions set forth | ||||||
25 | in this Resolution; and be it further
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26 | RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to the | ||||||
27 | Office of the Governor, the Secretary of the Department of | ||||||
28 | Human Services, the Director of the Office of Management and | ||||||
29 | Budget, and the Secretary of the Senate.
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