Today our state surveyor showed up unannounced at 8:30 for the annual review of our Developmental Training Program.  They look at a wide variety of things…policies, consumer files, staff files, the physical building, governance, and do interviews with consumers and direct care staff.  It went very well.  We got a 99% score.  A scan of the survey report is on our Documents and Reports page.

Mike was putting the kitchen at Kent Street CILA to good use last night for a tasty supper for him and his housemates.

Mike stirring up a nice supper at Kent.

Spring is a busy time here at SU…among many other things today:

John got a long and arduous grant request for a new vehicle off his desk;

Kyle cranked out some dip tubes for one of our customers;

Allen planted trees;

Jalapeno pepper plants are will hopefully lead us to a jam-packed fall (jam, get it?);

Brian, Linda and Theresa worked on how they’d talk about how tired they were from helping in the garden when they get home from SU today.

These nice days are letting everyone get out into the garden.  We’d like to get some shelter and shade for back there, so purchased a few trees.

Here’s another article on the negative impact of the late state payments on community service providers.  For the moment at SU we’ve had enough state payments to pay our employees, consumers and bills without having to borrow in order to do so.  The state is sending notice that the last 1.8 month’s worth of payments will be moved from the fiscal year ending this June 30 to the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014.  We keep an open line of credit for these situations, but hate using money to pay interest that could be going towards services.

The annual State of the States report is out.  There is an extraordinary amount of information available in it.  If you go to the “State Profiles” you can see Illinois.  The most encouraging fact on the sheet is the way that Illinois’ spending on state institutions has started going down.  There’s still a long ways to go, but we like to find positives wherever we can.  By far the saddest part of the Illinois profile is the drop in number of persons served in day/work and supported employment programs from 28,266 in 2009 to 20,167 in 2011.  We remember that very painful time when the funding for our sheltered workshop and others was eliminated by the state.

We really felt the pain those last couple of years on the chart as the state cut all of its grant funding.

Clicking over to the “create a chart” tab on the website, it gets a bit fun.  You can click on the data you want to see and what you want to compare it to.  Here’s the most basic of the charts, showing Illinois’ effort towards community-based services.  Proud as we are of our state, it is sad to see us not being a leader, not even being middle of the pack, but lagging near the bottom.  There are signs of hope, and when the report begins reflecting the gradual change in Illinois away from institutional care and towards community care, we will begin to shine as we support our citizens with developmental disabilities to lead fuller lives in their home communities.

We can do so much better, and it doesn’t mean increasing taxes or taking from other state programs–it just means using what we have better.

Speaking of community support, thank you to the Knights of Columbus!

Here’s another article on the funding crisis for community services for adults with developmental disabilities.  Families waiting for services is not a new thing.  The statewide waiting list has actually gone down a little, thanks the the settlement of the Ligas lawsuit.  It’s still over 15,000 people though.  It’s still been many years of not just no increases, but of funding cuts.  It’s also been years of very late payments.  There are signs of hope, though.  Two people at SU were selected from the waiting list to get funding for their services.  This year’s state budget proposed by Governor Quinn had no cuts to community services in it.  One state institution has closed and another is in the process of closing.  SU’s been incredibly fortunate to be a part of a supportive community and to have such dedicated employees.

An article on the Illinois Department of Human Services talking about their funding needs.  The challenge of meetings peoples’ needs with limited resource has been a recurring theme for recent years.  We were thrilled to see the Division of Developmental Disabilities Director Kevin Casey talk about the need to help the people on the waiting list.

The proclamation by President Reagan is below.  Don’t look at the date and get caught up in a bout of 80s nostalgia…don’t play synthesizer pop songs and do aerobics in your leg warmers.  Opportunities for people with developmental disabilities have come a long way and it is worth celebrating.  There’s still a long ways to go…Illinois still operates institutions and there are close to 20,000 people waiting for services.  That aside, if you don’t have people with developmental disabilities as a part of your day at home or work or socially, your life is less rich than you know.

Proclamation 5613 — National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, 1987

February 26, 1987

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

Nearly four million Americans have grown up with severe physical or mental impairments that have slowed their learning, limited their mobility, inhibited their expression, and rendered them dependent on others for care and assistance.

For many of these people with developmental disabilities there is now the prospect of a brighter future and greater opportunity. Americans are becoming increasingly aware that such disabilities need not keep individuals from realizing their full potential in school, at work or at home, as members of their families and of their communities.

New opportunities have been created through the efforts of those with developmental disabilities and their family members, along with professionals and officials at all levels of government. Working together, they have brought about significant changes in the public perception of young people and adults with developmental disabilities, opening new doors to independent and productive lives.

One important new milestone is the fruitful partnership between government and the private sector in finding productive employment for people with developmental disabilities, people who might otherwise have been destined to a lifetime of dependency. In the past 2 years, the Administration’s Employment Initiative has resulted in finding job opportunities for more than 87,000 people with developmental disabilities.

The Congress, by Public Law 99 – 483, has designated the month of March 1987 as “National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month” and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of March 1987 as National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. I invite all individuals, agencies, and organizations concerned with the problem of developmental disabilities to observe this month with appropriate observances and activities directed toward increasing public awareness of the needs and the potential of Americans with developmental disabilities. I urge all Americans to join me in according to our fellow citizens with such disabilities both encouragement and the opportunities they need to lead productive lives and to achieve their full potential.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:58 a.m., February 27, 1987]