Inclusion Daily Express -- Community Advocates Protest Plan To Open Facilities On LDC Campus

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Community Advocates Protest Plan To Open Facilities On LDC Campus
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
July 26, 2007

LINCOLN, ILLINOIS--Advocates for community living in Illinois are voicing their anger over the governor's apparent plan to reverse himself -- again -- and allow operations to begin at the site of Lincoln Developmental Center.

About 20 activists interrupted the July 24 meeting of the state's Health Facilities Planning Board, chanting "No more Lincoln!" the Lincoln Courier reported.

The board was considering a permit application from the Illinois Department of Human Services to open four 10-bed facilities on the campus of the former institution, which was shut down in 2002 by then-governor George Ryan because of ongoing problems with abuse and neglect of residents with developmental disabilities.

While campaigning for governor in 2003, Rod Blagojevich pledged to reopen the facility, a plan that later turned into the construction of four facilities called "Lincoln Estates".

Disability rights groups have opposed the plan from the beginning, saying that building new facilities on the old campus would unnecessarily segregate people with disabilities in violation of federal discrimination laws. In March 2006, Equip for Equality, the state's federally mandated protection and advocacy system, asked the federal government to withhold Medicaid and other funding to the state if it followed through with the plan.

Lincoln Estates was finally built at a cost of nearly $10 million and was scheduled to open last summer. In his state budget, however, Governor Blagojevich included just enough money for maintaining the empty facilities, but not operating them. He said in May 2006 that as he learned more about the issue he wondered if "maybe I was not in the right place a couple of years ago."

The Courier, which is headquartered in the nearby town of Lincoln, reported Wednesday that a deal is in the works between Blagojevich and the General Assembly to use up to $15 million to operate the facilities during the 2008 fiscal year.

"It's appalling that the state is compromising the rights of people with disabilities," Larry Biondi, advocacy coordinator with the Progress Center for Independent Living, said in a press statement.

The plan to reopen the facility has been supported by parents of former LDC residents, former employees of the institution, and local businesses and civic leaders, who hope it will have a positive impact on the local economy.

Related:
"Advocates for independent living for people with disabilities protest state's application to reopen Lincoln Estates" (Progress Center for Independent Living)
http://lincolndailynews.com/News/today072407_c.htm
"Homes at LDC may finally open" (Lincoln Courier)
http://www.lincolncourier.com/story.asp?SID=12875&SEC=8
"Lincoln Developmental Center -- Illinois Governor Strives To Return To The Past" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/il/ldc.htm

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