Anixter Center and others in disability services
field prepare for 2006 Illinois state budget

CHICAGO (February 7, 2005) People with disabilities in Illinois are waiting on pins and needles – yet again – to see how their funding will be impacted by the 2006 Illinois budget. Anixter Center is one of the largest and most diverse nonprofits in the Midwest, and its mission is to assist people with disabilities to live and work successfully in the community. Anixter Center has 70 programs in 35 locations throughout Chicago, including many Chicago suburbs. Here is some background on people with disabilities at Anixter Center — and throughout Illinois —and how they’re negatively impacted by the state’s failure to fund community-based services and supports in a progressive manner.

• In the mid 1990s, when “Lynne,” a current employee of Anixter Center, was employed in a state institutional setting, she worked with a person named Lawrence who literally was speechless: He never said a word. After the institution closed, both Lynne and Lawrence relocated to Oakley Home, one of 15 small-group residences that is part of Anixter Center. Lynne recently recalled that after moving to Oakley, “Lawrence soon began to talk! Like many of the people served through Anixter Center, his whole demeanor has improved. We have a family atmosphere in these homes, and the people we serve benefit from the supportive and nurturing atmosphere.” Lynne comments that because individuals served in the community often are able to enjoy opportunities to participate in life experiences that most people take for granted, many learn to become more comfortable in the world and less afraid of new situations.

• Lynne’s story illuminates the funding issues that impact people with disabilities in Illinois – a timely subject as Rod Governor Blagojevich prepares to deliver his 2006 budget address on February 16. No one can say exactly how people with disabilities will be impacted, but there is the possibility of cutbacks in community services, or at best, staying even. Perhaps that wouldn’t be quite such devastating news if Illinois didn’t already rank 47th in its funding of community services for people with disabilities, ranking only ahead of Iowa, Indiana, Virginia and Mississippi. (Because Washington, D.C. is counted, the number of entities counted equals 51.)

• Equally important, community services and supports provide an economic solution that’s far more feasible for taxpayers and less wasteful of state resources. Currently, it costs about $67,000 a year to provide a home and a day program through Anixter Center’s Residential Service Program, while the cost of institutionalization in Illinois is approximately $115,250. If the money spent by Illinois on institutionalization were redirected into community services, thousands of additional people – who now are languishing on waiting lists – could be successfully served.

• Most of the states, including neighboring Michigan, are significantly ahead of Illinois in converting their publicly funded system from institutional to community (Nine states have eliminated all of their public institutions.) This shift is recognized as a far more enlightened and humane approach that helps maximize individuals’ gifts and abilities and provides a richer way of life.

• Community living and support has been adopted in President Bush’s “New Freedom” initiative to reflect the spirit of the 1999 Olmstead Decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that under the American with Disabilities Act, states discriminate against people with disabilities if they deny them the opportunity to live in integrated community settings.

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The mission of the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center is to assist people with disabilities to live and work successfully in the community. Anixter Center is a leading provider of high-quality vocational, residential and educational options, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and health care. Anixter Center is an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to be full and equal members of the community.