Some Illinois Caregivers Get Small Raise In Pay, Another Court Filing Can Cost The State - Again

Illinois - After frequent stories of caregivers earning around $10 an hour even after years of work, suburban aides who care for people with disabilities are getting a pay raise.

Article by Kerry Lester for the Daily Herald | July 17, 2017                                                           
The 75-cent-an-hour raise -- buried deep within the state budget passed earlier this month by the legislature -- will cost the state $53 million next year and go to 34,000 workers. Average pay statewide will increase from its current $9.35 to $10.10 an hour.

Ray Graham Association President and CEO Kim Zoeller tells me the move certainly is appreciated but it's far from enough. The DuPage County nonprofit has more than 90 of its 250 caregiver positions open after many workers left for higher-paying jobs in fast food or retail.

With those gaps, Zoeller says, the agency no longer is able to devote time to take residents into the community for such things as church services or grocery shopping. Ray Graham serves 2,000 disabled children and adults in the suburbs and operates 23 group homes.

New campaign                                                                            

Zoeller says after the "dust settles" in Springfield over the passage this month of the state's first budget in two years, a coalition of 60 organizations employing caregivers and calling itself "They Deserve More" will begin to lobby lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner anew.

"With Cook County's recent minimum wage hike (to $13 an hour by 2020), it makes it even more critical for providers to have that funding in order to be competitive," Zoeller says.

For More of the article: CLICK
Equip For Equality court filing:

• Ligas brief filed in support of Motion to Enforce Consent Decree (PDF)

Advocates File Federal Complaint in Illinois Disabilities Consent Decree

CHICAGO (AP) -April 9, 2017 - Attorneys have filed a federal complaint alleging that the state of Illinois is not fulfilling its commitment to fund disability services as required by a 2011 consent decree, saying that a refusal to increase reimbursement to providers has caused a dramatic deterioration in the care of those with developmental disabilities.

Equip for Equality and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois said in a statement that the state's decision to freeze the pay of providers for nearly a decade has forced homes and facilities to dramatically reduce the size of their staffs, which has left them unable to do little more than keep residents safe. They say an independent monitor consent decree has found the state has not complied with the 2011 decree for the last two years and are seeking to force the state to do so.

"People — who are supposed to be integrated into the community — are instead isolated and segregated," according to the statement, adding that staffing levels made regular trips out of their facilities impossible. "Instead of living full integrated lives, many of these class members are suffering enormous hardships, including social isolation...and in many instances, anxiety and depression."

But in an email to The Associated Press, Meredith Krantz of the state's Department of Human Services said the state disagrees with the monitor's findings, saying that Illinois has and "will continue to follow every court order" regarding the care of those with disabilities. Further, she said the state has "submitted all payments in question and look to the (state) comptroller's office to ensure they're processed."

"The (Bruce) Rauner administration remains committed to moving individuals with developmental disabilities, mental illness, or physical disabilities out of institutional care and into community settings while ensuring those individuals receive the best care possible," she wrote.

Illinois has operated without a budget for two years as Rauner, a Republican, and the Democrat-controlled Legislature remain at odds. However, most of Illinois' spending is on autopilot, including consent decrees.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A 2011 ruling keeps State of Illinois money to disabled moving now

Friends David Cicarelli, left, and Stanley Ligas were among several plaintiffs in the case

article by Mike Riopell for The Daily Herald | January 21, 2016
It wasn't their eventual role in the ongoing state budget stalemate that Stanley Ligas of Oswego and David Cicarelli of Wheeling were cheering for when their lawsuit was resolved nearly five years ago.

But the decision's legacy has helped buffer some social services agencies from the budget fallout.

Ligas and Cicarelli were part of a federal class-action suit seeking to allow people with disabilities the option to live in community settings. They lived in larger facilities in Woodstock and Lincolnshire at the time.

The resulting Ligas decree has required the state to keep paying for many services for people with disabilities while Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers feud over the incomplete Illinois budget.

"Without it, by now, we would be closing our doors," Carl La Mell, president of Arlington Heights-based Clearbrook, an agency that helps care for people with disabilities, said this week.

The Daily Herald covered the decision at the time, when the two men celebrated and took photos together outside the courthouse in Chicago. Advocates went to court over the decree last summer to ensure the state would keep paying after July 1 despite Illinois' lack of a budget.

Update

Nowadays, Cicarelli lives in a Clearbrook group home in Wheeling.

"He's a happy camper," La Mell said.

His mom, Julie, lives a couple miles away. She says she volunteers with Clearbrook and she's glad for that decision several years ago. But she adds she'll "always have to advocate" for services for people with disabilities.

Barry Taylor, director of the nonprofit Equip for Equality and a lead attorney on the case, said Ligas now lives in a group home in Oswego.

"He's doing great," he said. "He has a job and he's living in a house with three other guys."

But ...

Earlier this month, the monitor in charge of making sure the state complies with the decree issued a report that found Illinois in "noncompliance." For example, the monitor says it's a problem that some of the employees that take care of people get paid so little.

In interviews to mark his first year in office, Rauner suggested he was considering ways to cope with consent decrees that have Illinois spending more money than it's taking in, though he named no specific decrees or methods to do so.

The debate over debates

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrea Zopp of Chicago criticized opponent Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates for agreeing to only one televised debate and two meetups at newspaper editorial boards and argued that she's been "noticeably absent" from the campaign trail. Zopp's campaign pointed to five additional broadcast debates they said were in the works.

"Hopefully Congresswoman Duckworth won't ignore the voters of Springfield, or Peoria, or women, or the African-American community," Zopp campaign manager Bryce Colquitt said in a statement.

Zopp, Duckworth and state Sen. Napoleon Harris of Harvey are seeking the Democratic nomination to try to win Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's seat at the Capitol.

Duckworth's campaign didn't respond.

Marter pick

On the Republican side of the race, IT consultant James Marter of Oswego is making a primary run at Kirk.

He was asked at a Daily Herald editorial board meeting whom he'd back for president.

Marter says he's not endorsing a particular candidate but did say he likes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Ben Carson.

"I even like what Donald Trump's bringing to the table in terms of bringing discussion to the Republican Party and putting that in the forefront of everyone's television sets for the last, you know, six to nine months," he said.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160121/news/160129698/

Illinois meetings for people with developmental disabilities and their guardians on community living options: Sept 29 - Oct 14 2015

CQL, The Council on Quality and Leadership, is hosting meetings throughout the state of Illinois, to offer Potential Ligas Class Members an opportunity to learn about the Ligas Consent Decree. 

Potential Ligas Class Members can take advantage of this opportunity to learn about the Ligas Consent Decree and what that means to Potential Class Members or the guardian of a Potential Class Member.

DURING THE MEETING PEOPLE WILL LEARN ABOUT:

• The Ligas Consent Decree
• What makes you or the person for whom you are guardian a Potential Class Member
• Your rights as a Potential Class Member to have a choice in where you live and receive services
• What options you have as a Potential Class Member to continue to live in your current home or move to a different home

If you are interested, but are unable to attend any of the meetings listed at 

 http://www.c-q-l.org/ligas-outreach/ligas-informational-meetings
please call and RSVP: (818) 662-2225

Meetings will take place in various locations in Illinois from September 29 thru October 14, 2015

# as posted by CQL, The Council on Quality and Leadership

http://www.c-q-l.org/ligas-outreach/ligas-informational-meetings