SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Advocates for state-funded services for the developmentally disabled in Illinois are pleased with plans to boost funding by $122 million next year. But a federal court has found even more is needed to properly put residents in neighborhood group homes, provide job training, and reduce a list of 18,000 people awaiting services.
The state agreed to those aspects in a 2011 federal consent decree.
A follow-up study by the Illinois Department of Human Services found an additional $329 million is needed just this year. Advocates say that’s mostly to increase salaries for group home staff, where turnover is a problem.
