State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB1797

 
                                               LRB9102172PTpk

 1        AN  ACT  to amend the Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act
 2    by changing Section 3.

 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:

 5        Section  5.   The  Disabled Persons Rehabilitation Act is
 6    amended by changing Section 3 as follows:

 7        (20 ILCS 2405/3) (from Ch. 23, par. 3434)
 8        Sec. 3.  Powers and duties. The Department shall have the
 9    powers and duties enumerated herein:
10        (a)  To co-operate with the  federal  government  in  the
11    administration    of    the   provisions   of   the   federal
12    Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and  of  the  federal
13    Social  Security Act to the extent and in the manner provided
14    in these Acts.
15        (b)  To  prescribe  and   supervise   such   courses   of
16    vocational training and provide such other services as may be
17    necessary  for the habilitation and rehabilitation of persons
18    with one or more disabilities, including  the  administrative
19    activities  under  subsection  (e)  of  this  Section, and to
20    co-operate with State and local school authorities and  other
21    recognized  agencies  engaged in habilitation, rehabilitation
22    and comprehensive rehabilitation services; and  to  cooperate
23    with the Department of Children and Family Services regarding
24    the   care  and  education  of  children  with  one  or  more
25    disabilities.
26        (c)  To make such reports and submit such  plans  to  the
27    federal  government  as are required by the provisions of the
28    federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,  and  by  the
29    rules  and  regulations  of  the  federal  agency or agencies
30    administering the federal  Rehabilitation  Act  of  1973,  as
31    amended, and the federal Social Security Act.
 
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 1        (d)  To  report  in writing, to the Governor, annually on
 2    or before the first day of December, and at such other  times
 3    and in such manner and upon such subjects as the Governor may
 4    require.   The annual report shall contain (1) a statement of
 5    the  existing  condition  of   comprehensive   rehabilitation
 6    services, habilitation and rehabilitation in the State; (2) a
 7    statement  of  suggestions and recommendations with reference
 8    to the development of comprehensive rehabilitation  services,
 9    habilitation  and  rehabilitation  in  the  State; and (3) an
10    itemized statement of the  amounts  of  money  received  from
11    federal,  State  and  other  sources,  and of the objects and
12    purposes to which  the  respective  items  of  these  several
13    amounts have been devoted.
14        (e)  To  exercise,  pursuant  to  Section 13 of this Act,
15    executive   and   administrative   supervision    over    all
16    institutions,  divisions,  programs and services now existing
17    or hereafter acquired or created under  the  jurisdiction  of
18    the Department, including, but not limited to, the following:
19        The   Illinois   School  for  the  Visually  Impaired  at
20    Jacksonville, as provided under Section 10 of this Act,
21        The Illinois School for  the  Deaf  at  Jacksonville,  as
22    provided under Section 10 of this Act, and
23        The  Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education, as
24    provided under Section 11 of this Act.
25        (f)  To  establish  a  program  of  services  to  prevent
26    unnecessary institutionalization of persons with  Alzheimer's
27    disease and related disorders or persons in need of long term
28    care  who  are established as blind or disabled as defined by
29    the Social Security Act, thereby enabling them to  remain  in
30    their own homes or other living arrangements. Such preventive
31    services  may  include, but are not limited to, any or all of
32    the following:
33             (1)  home health services;
34             (2)  home nursing services;
 
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 1             (3)  homemaker services;
 2             (4)  chore and housekeeping services;
 3             (5)  day care services;
 4             (6)  home-delivered meals;
 5             (7)  education in self-care;
 6             (8)  personal care services;
 7             (9)  adult day health services;
 8             (10)  habilitation services;
 9             (11)  respite care; or
10             (12)  other  nonmedical  social  services  that  may
11        enable the person to become self-supporting.
12        The Department shall establish eligibility standards  for
13    such  services  taking into consideration the unique economic
14    and social needs of the population for whom they  are  to  be
15    provided.   Such  eligibility  standards  may be based on the
16    recipient's ability to pay for services;  provided,  however,
17    that  any  portion  of  a person's income that is equal to or
18    less  than  the  "protected  income"  level  shall   not   be
19    considered by the Department in determining eligibility.  The
20    "protected   income"   level   shall  be  determined  by  the
21    Department, shall never be  less  than  the  federal  poverty
22    standard,  and shall be adjusted each year to reflect changes
23    in the Consumer  Price  Index  For  All  Urban  Consumers  as
24    determined   by   the  United  States  Department  of  Labor.
25    Additionally,  in  determining  the  amount  and  nature   of
26    services  for which a person may qualify, consideration shall
27    not be given to the value of cash, property or  other  assets
28    held in the name of the person's spouse pursuant to a written
29    agreement  dividing  marital property into equal but separate
30    shares or pursuant to a transfer of the person's interest  in
31    a home to his spouse, provided that the spouse's share of the
32    marital  property is not made available to the person seeking
33    such services.
34        The services shall be provided  to  eligible  persons  to
 
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 1    prevent unnecessary or premature institutionalization, to the
 2    extent that the cost of the services, together with the other
 3    personal  maintenance expenses of the persons, are reasonably
 4    related to the standards established  for  care  in  a  group
 5    facility    appropriate    to    their    condition.    These
 6    non-institutional services, pilot  projects  or  experimental
 7    facilities may be provided as part of or in addition to those
 8    authorized by federal law or those funded and administered by
 9    the Illinois Department on Aging.
10        Personal care attendants shall be paid:
11             (i)  A  $5  per  hour minimum rate beginning July 1,
12        1995.
13             (ii)  A $5.30 per hour minimum rate  beginning  July
14        1, 1997.
15             (iii)  A  $5.40 per hour minimum rate beginning July
16        1, 1998.
17        The legislature has found that it would serve the  public
18    interest for the personal assistants providing services under
19    the  Department's Home Services Program to be represented and
20    be able to voice their demands and grievances  through  their
21    representative  to  the Department.  Where an organization is
22    chosen by a majority of personal assistants as the  exclusive
23    representative  of all personal assistants providing services
24    under the Department's Home Services Program, the  Department
25    shall meet and confer with that exclusive representative in a
26    good  faith  effort to resolve grievances concerning the Home
27    Services Program and shall reduce any resulting agreements to
28    writing.  The written  agreements  may  contain  a  provision
29    requiring    that   all   personal   assistants   pay   their
30    proportionate share of  the  costs  of  that  representation.
31    After  a majority of the personal assistants have selected an
32    organization as  the  exclusive  representative  of  personal
33    assistants,  the Department shall continue to meet and confer
34    with that organization as the exclusive representative unless
 
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 1    it has a  good  faith  doubt  about  whether  a  majority  of
 2    personal   assistants   wish   to   be   represented  by  the
 3    organization.  Nothing in this paragraph shall be  understood
 4    to  limit the right of the persons receiving services defined
 5    in this subsection to  hire,  fire,  and  supervise  personal
 6    assistants.   The  State  of Illinois shall not be considered
 7    the  employer  of  personal  assistants  for  any   purposes,
 8    including but not limited to vicarious liability in tort, for
 9    purposes of statutory retirement benefits, or for purposes of
10    any other statutorily mandated employment benefits.
11        The  Department  shall  execute,  relative to the nursing
12    home prescreening project, as authorized by Section  4.03  of
13    the   Illinois   Act   on  the  Aging,  written  inter-agency
14    agreements with the Department on Aging and the Department of
15    Public Aid, to effect the following:  (i)  intake  procedures
16    and  common  eligibility  criteria  for those persons who are
17    receiving   non-institutional   services;   and   (ii)    the
18    establishment  and  development of non-institutional services
19    in areas of the State where they are not currently  available
20    or  are  undeveloped.  On and after July 1, 1996, all nursing
21    home prescreenings for individuals 18 through 59 years of age
22    shall be conducted by the Department.
23        The Department is authorized to  establish  a  system  of
24    recipient  cost-sharing  for  services  provided  under  this
25    Section.    The   cost-sharing   shall   be  based  upon  the
26    recipient's ability to pay for services, but in no case shall
27    the recipient's share exceed the actual cost of the  services
28    provided.   Protected  income  shall not be considered by the
29    Department in its determination of the recipient's ability to
30    pay  a  share  of  the  cost  of  services.   The  level   of
31    cost-sharing  shall  be adjusted each year to reflect changes
32    in the "protected income" level.  The Department shall deduct
33    from the recipient's share of the cost of services any  money
34    expended by the recipient for disability-related expenses.
 
                            -6-                LRB9102172PTpk
 1        The    Department,   or   the   Department's   authorized
 2    representative, shall recover the amount of  moneys  expended
 3    for  services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
 4    Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
 5    estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery  may
 6    be had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any,
 7    and  then  only at such time when there is no surviving child
 8    who is under  age  21,  blind,  or  permanently  and  totally
 9    disabled.   This  paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery,
10    at the death of the person, of moneys for  services  provided
11    to  the  person or in behalf of the person under this Section
12    to which the person was  not  entitled;  provided  that  such
13    recovery  shall not be enforced against any real estate while
14    it is occupied as a homestead  by  the  surviving  spouse  or
15    other  dependent,  if  no claims by other creditors have been
16    filed against the estate, or, if such claims have been filed,
17    they remain dormant for failure of prosecution or failure  of
18    the  claimant  to compel administration of the estate for the
19    purpose of payment.  This paragraph shall  not  bar  recovery
20    from  the estate of a spouse, under Sections 1915 and 1924 of
21    the Social Security Act  and  Section  5-4  of  the  Illinois
22    Public  Aid  Code,  who  precedes a person receiving services
23    under this Section in death.  All moneys for services paid to
24    or in behalf of  the  person  under  this  Section  shall  be
25    claimed  for  recovery  from  the  deceased  spouse's estate.
26    "Homestead", as used in this paragraph,  means  the  dwelling
27    house  and  contiguous  real  estate  occupied by a surviving
28    spouse or relative, as defined by the rules  and  regulations
29    of  the  Illinois Department of Public Aid, regardless of the
30    value of the property.
31        The  Department  and  the  Department  on   Aging   shall
32    cooperate  in  the  development  and  submission of an annual
33    report on programs and services provided under this  Section.
34    Such  joint  report  shall be filed with the Governor and the
 
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 1    General Assembly on or before September 30 each year.
 2        The requirement for reporting  to  the  General  Assembly
 3    shall  be  satisfied  by filing copies of the report with the
 4    Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of  the  House  of
 5    Representatives  and  the  President, the Minority Leader and
 6    the Secretary of the  Senate  and  the  Legislative  Research
 7    Unit,  as  required  by  Section  3.1 of the General Assembly
 8    Organization Act, and filing additional copies with the State
 9    Government  Report  Distribution  Center  for   the   General
10    Assembly  as required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the
11    State Library Act.
12        (g)  To establish such subdivisions of the Department  as
13    shall be desirable and assign to the various subdivisions the
14    responsibilities  and  duties  placed  upon the Department by
15    law.
16        (h)  To cooperate and enter into any necessary agreements
17    with the Department of Employment Security for the  provision
18    of  job placement and job referral services to clients of the
19    Department,  including  job  service  registration  of   such
20    clients  with Illinois Employment Security offices and making
21    job listings  maintained  by  the  Department  of  Employment
22    Security available to such clients.
23        (i)  To  possess  all powers reasonable and necessary for
24    the exercise and administration of  the  powers,  duties  and
25    responsibilities  of the Department which are provided for by
26    law.
27        (j)  To establish a procedure whereby  new  providers  of
28    personal care attendant services shall submit vouchers to the
29    State  for  payment  two  times  during  their first month of
30    employment and one time per month  thereafter.   In  no  case
31    shall  the  Department pay personal care attendants an hourly
32    wage that is less than the federal minimum wage.
33        (k)  To provide adequate notice to providers of chore and
34    housekeeping services informing them that they  are  entitled
 
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 1    to  an  interest payment on bills which are not promptly paid
 2    pursuant to Section 3 of the State Prompt Payment Act.
 3        (l)  To  establish,  operate  and  maintain  a  Statewide
 4    Housing Clearinghouse of information on available, government
 5    subsidized  housing  accessible  to  disabled   persons   and
 6    available  privately  owned  housing  accessible  to disabled
 7    persons.  The information shall include but not be limited to
 8    the  location,  rental  requirements,  access  features   and
 9    proximity to public transportation of available housing.  The
10    Clearinghouse  shall  consist  of  at  least  a  computerized
11    database  for  the storage and retrieval of information and a
12    separate or shared toll free  telephone  number  for  use  by
13    those seeking information from the Clearinghouse.  Department
14    offices  and personnel throughout the State shall also assist
15    in the operation  of  the  Statewide  Housing  Clearinghouse.
16    Cooperation  with  local,  State and federal housing managers
17    shall be sought and  extended  in  order  to  frequently  and
18    promptly update the Clearinghouse's information.
19    (Source:  P.A.  89-21,  eff.  7-1-95;  89-352,  eff. 8-17-95;
20    89-626, eff. 8-9-96; 90-365, eff. 8-10-97.)

21        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
22    becoming law.

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