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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 30

2     AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend Senate Joint Resolution 30 by
3 replacing everything after the heading with the following:
 
4     "WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in Olmstead v.
5 L.C. Ex Rel. Zimring, 119 S. Ct. 2176 (1999), held that the
6 unjustifiable institutionalization of a person with a
7 disability who could live in the community with appropriate
8 supports and services, and wishes to do so, is unlawful
9 discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities
10 Act (ADA); and
 
11     WHEREAS, Many individuals with developmental disabilities
12 in Illinois who desire home or community-based residential
13 services are unable to obtain them due to the lack of funding
14 for such options; and
 
15     WHEREAS, As a result of insufficient home and

 

 

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1 community-based service options for individuals with
2 developmental disabilities in Illinois, many individuals and
3 their families must choose between living with their parents or
4 other family members without the supports and services they
5 need, or living an Intermediate Care Facility, or an
6 Intermediate Care Facility/DD 15 and under, or a State-operated
7 developmental center, even if they could live successfully in a
8 less restrictive setting with appropriate supports and
9 services; and
 
10     WHEREAS, There are now over 16,000 individuals with
11 developmental disabilities in Illinois with documented crisis,
12 emerging crisis, or future service needs who are on the
13 Department of Human Services' Priority of Urgency of Need of
14 Services (PUNS) waiting list database for services and
15 supports, and the need is probably greater because this number
16 only represents those individuals who have actually signed up
17 for the PUNS waiting list database; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Almost 10 years after the Olmstead decision, a
19 report titled "The State of the States in Disabilities 2008" by
20 the Department of Psychiatry and Coleman Institute for
21 Cognitive Disabilities of the University of Colorado ranks the
22 State of Illinois 40th nationally in fiscal effort for services
23 for individuals with developmental disabilities, including all
24 programs - home based, group home, and congregate care; 47th in

 

 

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1 community spending; and 51st in serving people with
2 developmental disabilities in environments of 6 or less; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Other studies, including but not limited to,
4 "State Funding of Community Agencies for Services to Illinois
5 Residents with Mental Illness and/or Developmental
6 Disabilities: Final Report to the Illinois General Assembly",
7 "The Report of the Community Integrated Living Arrangement
8 Nursing Services Work Group", and "The Illinois Direct Support
9 Professional Workforce Initiative" address the issues with the
10 Illinois system; and
 
11     WHEREAS, "The Blueprint for System Redesign in Illinois"
12 reviewed the findings of these studies as well as the results
13 of a gaps analysis and created a framework for restructuring
14 the current service system for people with developmental
15 disabilities and their families; and
 
16     WHEREAS, These studies and numerous legislative measures
17 and lawsuits over the last decade have attempted to address the
18 shortcomings of Illinois' fragmented and inadequate system of
19 services and supports to individuals with developmental
20 disabilities; and
 
21     WHEREAS, In order to meet the urgent need for quality home
22 and community-based services in Illinois, major systemic

 

 

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1 fiscal and policy changes are necessary and must be a real
2 priority for the State; and
 
3     WHEREAS, The workers who provide direct support in the
4 community to individuals with developmental disabilities
5 should be paid fair and adequate wages; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Until the State breaks the cycle of underfunding
7 and lack of significant growth of home and community-based
8 services and supports for people with developmental
9 disabilities and their families which perpetuates short term
10 measures to address crises in the system and which, in the long
11 term, has maintained and fostered the competition among many
12 for scarce public resources; the community-based system will
13 continue to be fragmented and inadequately funded; therefore,
14 be it
 
15     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
17 CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Department of Human Services,
18 Division of Developmental Disabilities, shall develop a 7-year
19 Plan with yearly benchmarks to enhance and expand access to
20 quality community services and supports as informed by the
21 "Blueprint for System Redesign" (January 2008), "State Funding
22 of Community Agencies for Services to Illinois Residents with
23 Mental Illness and/or Developmental Disabilities: Final Report

 

 

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1 to the Illinois General Assembly", "The Report of the Community
2 Integrated Living Arrangement Nursing Services Work Group",
3 and "The Illinois Direct Support Professional Workforce
4 Initiative" by December 1, 2009; and be it further
 
5     RESOLVED, That increases in the resources available to the
6 Department shall be appropriated to services and supports
7 consistent with the Benchmarks of the 7-year Plan considering
8 factors including, but not limited to, fair and adequate wages
9 and benefits for Direct Support Professionals, funding
10 incentives, identifying new revenue sources, maximizing
11 current revenue sources, creating opportunities for capacity
12 building, and new rate methodologies that enhance quality
13 service and quality assurance, crisis intervention, and
14 workforce development; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of Human Services shall
16 provide an annual report on the implementation of the Plan,
17 including a year-by-year fiscal impact statement on each aspect
18 of the Plan, to the Governor and to each member of the General
19 Assembly by not later than July 1st of each year and interim
20 progress reports to the Governor and to the members of the
21 General Assembly not later than December 31st of each year
22 until the plan is fully implemented; and be it further
 
23     RESOLVED, That appropriate committees of the House of

 

 

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1 Representatives and the Senate shall convene at least one
2 hearing not later than July 1st of each year on the subject of
3 the Plan; and be it further
 
4      RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to the
5 Governor, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services,
6 the Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget,
7 and all members of the General Assembly.".