Legislation helping disabled heads to governor : By Sam Roe
Chicago Tribune : May 31, 2011
The Illinois Senate today joined the state House in passing sweeping reforms to safeguard thousands of children and adults with severe developmental disabilities.
The proposed new laws, sparked by a Tribune investigation, include stiffer fines for poor care, a ban on new admissions at troubled homes, stricter rules on the use of psychotropic medications and fewer roadblocks to closing facilities.
Facilities for people with disabilities also would be required to report all deaths to state authorities and to local coroners and medical examiners.
In October, a Tribune series documented a 10-year pattern of death and neglect at a North Side nursing facility now called Alden Village North. The newspaper found that 13 children and young adults had died in cases that resulted in state citations for neglect or failure to investigate.
State officials announced they would close the home, and Gov. Pat Quinn asked his senior health policy adviser, Michael Gelder, to draft legislation to protect residents at the other roughly 300 facilities in Illinois that care for the developmentally disabled.
Similar reforms were adopted last year for nursing homes that serve the elderly and people with mental disabilities.
Advocates hailed the legislation helping the disabled but said it did not go far enough.
The bill, passed by the House Monday, needs only a signature from Gov. Pat Quinn to become law.
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