Emotions Run High as Group Home Denied

Seems as if NIMBY is alive and well. Despite the slowing of group home development, the attitudes and fears continue at full speed.

HERRIN, Ill. -- More than 80 people — including about 20 who were standing — packed the Herrin City Council meeting Monday, the topic drawing high emotions.
The council had to decide whether to overrule the city’s zoning appeals board and grant a special use permit to The H Group to use a house it purchased as a group home for four developmentally disabled residents.
Speakers on behalf of the group home included Mayor Vic Ritter, Alderman Elizabeth Issler and even a resident of the subdivision where the home is located. She said she and most of her neighbors would not have signed petitions against the group home if a meeting had been held first so they would have known the facts.
A disabled veteran from Marion asked if he could be refused the right to live in his own subdivision because he suffers from service-related stress. His impassioned speech brought the crowd to its feet in tribute.
But in the end, only Issler and Alderman Robert Craig voted for the special use permit; the other six aldermen voted against allowing the home.

Illinois Legislators Question Institutions

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Three state representatives Wednesday night assured advocates for people with disabilities their voices will be heard if they speak in unison about the need to close more of the state’s eight institutional housing facilities for people with disabilities.
And advocates say they’re ready to band together and contact legislators about the benefits they say the state could realize if more institutions are closed.

Reforms to Safeguard Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

CHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday signed into law sweeping reforms designed to safeguard thousands of children and adults with developmental disabilities who live in nursing facilities.

The new laws, sparked by a Tribune investigation, call for stiffer fines for poor care, fewer roadblocks to closing facilities, stricter rules on the use of psychotropic medications and increased reporting requirements in cases of death.

State officials and some advocates described the legislation, passed by the General Assembly in May, as the most significant effort in a generation to help the developmentally disabled in Illinois nursing homes.

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.

Illinois adults with disabilities to have more housing options

CHICAGO- Thousands of Illinois adults with developmental disabilities — many of whom have spent years on a 21,000-plus waiting list for state services — will soon have more choices in housing under a proposed settlement to a long-running federal lawsuit.

The settlement, if approved as expected Wednesday by U.S. District Judge James Holderman, would upend how the state now pays for their care. Rather than assigning dollars to institutions, the money would follow the individual to the housing of their choice. The goal is to bring Illinois into compliance with the 1990 federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that people with disabilities be allowed to live in the "most integrated setting" within their communities.

Dog Accompanies Student With Autism to Class; Battle Looms

CHICAGO — Kaleb Drew went to first grade on Tuesday tethered to his Labrador retriever, over the school's objections, but his family is optimistic they'll win a court battle to keep the dog in class.
Chewey the Lab, trained to help the autistic boy deal with his disabilities, did "just as he's supposed to" in keeping Kaleb safe and calm during his first full day back at school, said the boy's mom, Nichelle Drew.
A Douglas County judge allowed the dog to accompany Kaleb until the family's lawsuit against Villa Grove Elementary School in east-central Illinois goes to trial in November.
Kaleb's case and a separate lawsuit involving an autistic boy near St. Louis are the first challenges to an Illinois law allowing service animals in schools, according to an attorney for the Villa Grove school and a spokeswoman for the Illinois Board of Education.