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Stop the Elimination of Illinois’ Personal Assistance Program for People with Disabilities
You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the
directions at the bottom.
On September 30, the State of Illinois will eliminate contracts with 22 Centers for Independent Living (CIL’s) to provide training to personal assistants (PA's) for persons with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities rely on PA's for services in their home in order to allow people to live independently in their homes and prevent institutionalization.
Budget cuts to this and other human service programs are happening as the result of the Illinois General Assembly not coming to an agreement with Governor Pat Quinn to increase revenue in response to declining state income due to the recession.
The cut, totaling $1.6 million, comes out of the Home Service Program within the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS).
Each CIL in the state of Illinois has a contract under which they provide training to individuals with disabilities who need personal assistants on how to recruit, hire, manage and if necessary fire a PA. More importantly, CIL’s recruit, screen, and train PA's and maintain a referral list for consumers and for the local IDHS office when needed.
While canceling this program will eliminate $1.6 million in expenditures for the state this year, the long term cost to the state will be many times
that amount in terms of higher Medicaid costs for institutional care and lost Federal enhanced match funding for community transitions that can not happen without the PA program.
Even more disturbing, these cuts will leave disabled adults vulnerable to unscrupulous vendors holding themselves out as trained PA’s, leading to the neglect and exploitation of persons with disabilities.
According to Ann Ford from the Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, “Helping consumers maintain a positive PA arrangement and avoid going into a nursing home is the very core of what CIL's are all about. This cut really knocks the wind out of our sails.”
Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:
Governor
Your State Representative
Your State Senator
A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.
Stop the Elimination of Illinois’ Personal Assistance Program for People with Disabilities
Dear Governor,
On September 30, the State of Illinois will eliminate contracts with 22 Centers for Independent Living (CIL’s) across the state of Illinois, to provide training to personal assistants (PA's) for persons with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities rely on PA's for services in their home, including personal care and housekeeping assistance, in order to allow them to live independently in their homes and prevent institutionalization.
The cut, totaling $1.6 million, comes out of the Home Service Program within the Illinois Department of Human Services.
While canceling this program will eliminate $1.6 million in expenditures for the state this year, the long term cost to the state will be many times that amount and will lead to higher Medicaid costs for institutional care and lost Federal enhanced match funding for community transitions that can not happen without the CIL’s PA programs.
Even more disturbing, these cuts will leave disabled adults vulnerable to unscrupulous vendors holding themselves out as trained PA’s, leading to neglect and exploitation of persons with disabilities.
Please support the revenue increases necessary to restore these cuts, so that disabled adults in Illinois can continue to thrive and contribute to their communities.
Sincerely, Your name and address here
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This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.
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