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THE “DO THE RIGHT
THING” CAMPAIGN |
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2003 “Do The Right Thing” Agenda
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Work with families and advocates to capture
Medicaid funding to get 50 cents of every dollar paid by federal
funds. David Braddock, Ph.D. points
out that Illinois appropriates about $290 million for supports to
individuals with developmental disabilities in the state budget that could
be matched by new federal funds. This could translate to $145 million new
federal match funds that could be redirected into the Developmental
Disabilities system. Additional Medicaid funding is also available to be
captured for mental health services.
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Maximize
Medicaid match monies by utilizing local tax funds from local taxing
bodies like 377, 553 and 708 boards that already fund human services.
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The State of Illinois needs to provide $11,500,000 new dollars
for residential CILA. There are 28,000
people in Illinois with severe disabilities living at home with their
aging parents in need of residential placement. Programs funded under
Community Integrated Living Arrangements (CILA) are the primary source of
residential support for individuals with disabilities in Illinois.
Providers of residential CILA currently have unfunded vacancies for 250
persons. CILA providers are not being funded for vacancies creating
funding deficits for CILA providers.
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Restore the 2% "Cost of Doing Business Increase" for services and supports
to individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness in
community programs.
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Expedite payments to providers of supports and services to individuals
with developmental disabilities and mental illness. This includes personal
support workers in the Home-Based Support Services program and community
providers, both of which are suffering
their worst cash flow crisis ever, often not being paid until three to six
months after service is provided.
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2004 “Do The Right Thing” Agenda
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$5 million dollars need to be added to the Home-Based Support Services
programs so that 325 new adults with severe disabilities
can be enrolled. Over 90 percent or
140,000 people
with severe disabilities
live at home with their families.
Families are the primary providers of care for children and adults with
disabilities in Illinois. They want to be able to continue to support and
love their family members with disabilities in their homes. They save the
state millions of dollars a year. But they must have the necessary support
and services to do so. Last year families made a major sacrifice when
rules for the Home-Based Support Services program were radically changed
to capture Federal "Waiver" dollars. None of that money came back to the
program to support people with disabilities.
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Provide a 4% "cost of doing business increase" in
FY'04. Community services to
individuals with disabilities have stagnated because community providers
have not received a "cost of doing business increase" in the last three
years. As a result, waiting lists are
growing and community organizations are facing severe financial losses.
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We recommend a $1.00 per hour increase for non-administrative
staff in FY'04. Caring, knowledgeable workers are critical to quality
lives for people with disabilities. Direct care workers must be paid
living wages and benefits. The average hourly wage for community staff is
$8.50 per hour.
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Create a rate methodology based on "real" costs, allowing for the
natural vacancies that occur as people transfer from program to program or
leave programs for the natural transitions of life.
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Create an annual indexed "cost of doing business increase"
and a 10-year real cost audit that verifies that methodologies continue to
reflect real costs.
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A waiting list must be created so that realistic plans can be made
to provide these and other needed services. Illinois citizens with
disabilities have been waiting for years for important services such as
supported living, family support, and residential services.
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Illinois
