Rehab agencies want more funds
Program cuts possible without 10% funding hike
Saturday, November 4, 2006
GALESBURG - Cuts will have to be made if programs aren't funded an additional 10 percent for the next four years, according to four area human service organizations that gathered at a news conference Friday.Representatives Abilities Plus, the Knox County Council for Developmental Disabilities, Warren Achievement Center and Bridgeway Inc. said Illinois is 47th in the nation in per capita spending for community services to the disabled.
Janet Stover, executive director of the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities Inc., said with an election approaching Tuesday, candidates need to acknowledge lack of funding for these agencies as an issue, along with education and healthcare.
"You can't talk about any of those issues without talking about community services," said Stover, who has been traveling throughout the state sending the same message.
"If we have to shout the last few days before the election," she said, "then that's what we'll do."
Once the system was changed from grants to fee-for-service, the agencies encountered a problem, as the rate hasn't changed since 1998.
Some agencies have to cover as many as six counties without mileage reimbursement.
"(The state) just never prioritized the need for people," said Jim Starnes, CEO and president of Bridgeway. He said the lack of funding is "coming together to form a crisis in our field."
He said crisis intervention is among the programs on the chopping block.
The Illinois Department of Human Services said it provided a $3 million increase for community integrated living arrangements and $6.5 million to increase funding services for DCFS wards who have developmental disabilities. Families who have children with developmental disabilities also qualify for insurance through the state's All Kids program.
Tom Green, a spokesman for DHS, said the economy is improving, but it's too early to make projection regarding allocations in the fiscal year 2008 budget.
