Illinois Developmental
Disability Programs continue to lag in national rankings
Dr. David Braddock, with
the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities at the
University of Colorado, publishes the State of the States in
Developmental Disabilities. Beginning in 1982, Dr Braddock and
his colleagues have tracked the programming and financing
performance of states in their developmental disability service
system. In his 2005 report, Dr. Braddock summarizes Illinois as
follows:
Illinois only provided 2% in
inflation adjusted growth in spending vs the national
average increase of 8.5% from 2002-2004;
Outdated reliance on institutional
settings is shown by our ranking as the 9th largest in per
capita utilization of 16 person and larger residential
settings;
43rd in per capita expenditures for community developmental
disability services;
44th in per capita expenditures for
supported living;
45th in per capita expenditures in
supported employment;
46th in per capita waiver spending
for community programs;
30,482 individuals with
developmental disabilities living with a primary caretaker
over the age of 60.
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The poor showing of Illinois'
developmental disability system must be at the forefront of
those issues that the governor and legislature must address.
Your past efforts have saved Illinois
disability services from a quick demise; however they must
continue in order to bring about real improvements for
individuals with disabilities in Illinois.
