Full Text of SR0242 95th General Assembly
SR0242 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, According to U.S. Census Bureau data for 2004, | 3 |
| 18%, or 51,200,000 people in the U.S. are persons with | 4 |
| disabilities; and
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| WHEREAS, According to data from the 2004 American Community | 6 |
| Survey, 12.4%, or 1,400,000 people in Illinois are persons with | 7 |
| disabilities; and
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| WHEREAS, By 2030, 1,200,000 individuals nationwide with | 9 |
| developmental disabilities will be over the age of 60; and
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| WHEREAS, In the U.S., 35% of people with a mental illness | 11 |
| or developmental disability live with caregivers between ages | 12 |
| of 40-60, and 25% live with caregivers over the age of 60; and
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| WHEREAS, 1 in 6 people provide care for a chronically ill, | 14 |
| older adult, friend or relative with a disability without | 15 |
| public funds; and
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| WHEREAS, Currently more than 50% of all direct support | 17 |
| positions, often known as caregivers, personal assistants or | 18 |
| homecare aides, turnover every year in the U.S.; in Illinois, | 19 |
| turnover in residential and vocational settings is nearly 70%, | 20 |
| with an estimated cost ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 to replace |
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| a direct support worker; the high turnover results in | 2 |
| vacancies, puts unfair demands on remaining workers and, most | 3 |
| importantly, negatively impacts the quality and consistency of | 4 |
| support to people with disabilities and mental illness; and
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| WHEREAS, Poor wages and heavy job demands have caused this | 6 |
| crisis; in 2005, a report by the Illinois Direct Support | 7 |
| Professional Workforce Initiative, using data from multiple | 8 |
| studies, found that the average annual income for direct | 9 |
| support professionals in residential settings, vocational | 10 |
| settings, and in-home and respite settings ranged from $18,366 | 11 |
| to $22,651; the current federal poverty level for a family of | 12 |
| four is $20,650; and
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| WHEREAS, It is essential that people with disabilities and | 14 |
| mental illness have access to support that allows them to live | 15 |
| and work in the communities of their choice; and
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| WHEREAS, In order to stabilize and increase the number of | 17 |
| direct support professionals in the workforce, the wages and | 18 |
| benefits of direct support professionals must be improved and | 19 |
| made equitable among long term support options; and
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| WHEREAS, Medicaid is the single-largest payor of long-term | 21 |
| support and services for people with disabilities; enhanced | 22 |
| Federal Medicaid matching funds should be available to assist |
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| states committed to addressing wage differentials among direct | 2 |
| support professionals by increasing the wages of direct support | 3 |
| professionals and supporting and improving the stability of the | 4 |
| direct support professional workforce; and
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| WHEREAS, The Direct Support Professionals Fairness and | 6 |
| Security Act of 2007, as introduced in the U.S. House of | 7 |
| Representatives in H.R. 1279, would provide a voluntary option | 8 |
| to states to receive additional Medicaid funding to reimburse | 9 |
| community-based organizations to raise the wages of direct | 10 |
| support professionals; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 12 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Congress of | 13 |
| the United States to support and pass H.R. 1279 so that states | 14 |
| will have additional options to raise the wages of direct | 15 |
| support professionals; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we encourage the State of Illinois to take | 17 |
| advantage of this option should it become available; and be it | 18 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent | 20 |
| to President George W. Bush and each member of the Illinois | 21 |
| congressional delegation.
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