With Key Ruling, Man Moves into Group Home

David Cicarelli in his new home

WHEELING, Ill. -- When the moving truck finally arrived, David Cicarelli popped out of his parent's house with a 10-pack of juice boxes, excited that his long wait was over at last.
The movers were behind schedule, but the real delay to leave a Lincolnshire facility began years ago for Cicarelli, 38, who has developmental disabilities and had long been denied his request to live closer to his family in a community-based group home.
On Thursday, though, Cicarelli prepared to end his temporary stay at his parents' home and spend his first night at his new home in Wheeling — the result of a federal lawsuit settled with a landmark consent decree in June. Cicarelli was one of five plaintiffs in the civil rights case, filed against the state of Illinois in 2005 in an effort to bring the state into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.