Disability advocates from around Illinois presented a proposal to lawmakers Wednesday that they claimed could save the state $337 million per year. The plan called for closing institutions that house individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and replacing their services with community integration programs.
Member of the Going Home Coalition created the plan based on statistics from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the State of the States in Developmental Disabilities 2015 report. According to numbers from the department, Illinois had 1,730 individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in state institutions as of March 2015 – the third most in the country. Operating those seven state institutions costs Illinois $429 million per year, according to the department’s figures.
The Going Home Coalition suggested the state phase out the use of institutions to treat intellectual disabilities and move those patients into community-based programs. Community integration programs would cost an estimated $53,000 per year for each disabled individual, compared to the institutional cost of $248,000 per year per patient. The shift would save Illinois approximately $337 million every year and allow the state to serve three-and-a-half times more disabled individuals, according to the coalition’s proposal.
During the press conference at the State Capitol Wednesday, previously institutionalized individuals and their families joined the Going Home Coalition, sharing their stories about how transitioning from institutions into the community changed their lives. An expected 300 people held a rally following the press conference advocating for the rights of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
-Katie Cliff