SCIL Serves 5 counties in Illinois: Menard, Logan, Sangamon, Christian and Montgomery.

SCIL's Mission:

To increase opportunities for equality, integration and independence for all persons with disabilities through advocacy, services, and public education.

SCIL promotes the Independent Living Philosophy:

Independent living is the belief that all persons, regardless of disability, have the right and responsibility to control and direct their own lives and to fully participate as equal members of society.

News and Updates

SCIL's New Hours

Starting November 6, SCIL will be open on Fridays.

Please contact your legislators and the Governor's Office to ensure funding will continue on a timely basis.

Web sites worth visiting

disaboom.com is a wonderful site for people with disabilities. Please check it out!

College Graduates with a disability - survey

Information on the survey go to www.paulsimoninstitute.org and to take the survey disabilitysurvey.paulsimoninstitute.org. . They are asking all college graduates with a disability to fill out the survey.

SCIL Hold its 24th Annual Meeting

SCIL Annual Meeting 2009

The Springfield Center for Independent Living 24th Annual Meeting was held on Wednesday, October 7, 2009. The event took place at the the Wedeberg Conference Center at Memorial Medical Center from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The program included an awards ceremony, a light hors d’oeuvre buffet, and the announcement of the winner of the 50/50 Raffle.

Each year, SCIL honors individuals who have made valuable contributions to SCIL and people with disabilities in the community. Awards presented this year included: The Beth Langen Leadership Award presented to Marion B. Dramin; The Jack Genskow Personal Assistant of the Year Award presented to Tammie Bowersock; and recognition of service award to retiring Board President, Kathie Corrigan. Ingeborgh Lundh, retiring member of the board was not present, but will receive a recognition award at a later time. A presentation of the “There’s No Place Like Home” plaque was made with the reading of the names of the eight individuals who have chosen to leave nursing homes to live independently in their own homes during this past year. The appointment of SCIL’s incoming Board President, Jeff Schumacher was made and he introduced the newly elected 2009-2010 board members Arthur Kitts, Bruce Steiner and Robert Wilson.

Pete Roberts, Executive Director, read the names of former SCIL Board Members and volunteers who passed away this year. He honored the late JoAnn Bayer, Kathy Conour, Darrow Hozian and Carol Kemp with a remembrance of their years of dedicated service and advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities.

The evening ended with the announcement of the winner of the SCIL 50/50 Raffle Fundraiser.

SCIL is a not-for-profit service and advocacy agency that promotes the independent living philosophy. Its mission is to increase opportunities for all people with disabilities through advocacy, services, and public education. SCIL serves Christian, Logan, Menard, Montgomery, and Sangamon counties in Illinois. SCIL services are free.

PRESCRIPTION COVERAGE CHECKUP

For those who hunt wild game, it may be “Open Season.” For those with Medicare coverage, it is the “Annual Election Period” for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDP(s)). From November 15, 2009 through December 31, 2009, Those who currently have a Medicare PDP, should review their current plan to ensure that all their current medications are covered and their pharmacy is in the plan’s network.

Medicare, Social Security, and plan providers have been mailing out notices about changes to existing plans. If you have Medicare coverage or will be eligible for Medicare in the near future and you would like help deciphering letters you have received or you wish to get assistance reviewing plan options, please call Dave Munroe at 523-2587 to schedule an appointment prior to Wednesday, December 23, after which our office will be closed for the holidays.

Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs

Now, you can help someone care about apply for Extra Help with their Medicare prescription drug plan costs.

Anyone who has Medicare can get Medicare prescription drug coverage. Some people with limited income and resources also are eligible for Extra Help to pay for the costs--monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments--related to a Medicare prescription durg plan.

For more information and to apply:

• You can help them apply online at www.socialsecurity.gov
• Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to help them apply over the phone or to request an application; or
• Help them apply at their local Social Security Office.




Access to Recreation Endowment Fund

The Sangamon County Community Foundation (SCCF) is building a new, permanent funding resource for accessible recreation projects in our community.

Through a challenge grant, community members like you can help SCCF DOUBLE our money...up to $135.000! The W.K. Kellogg Foundation will match each donation received into this fund.

The Access to Recreation Endowment Fund will enhance, expand and create new accessible recreational opportunties for people with disabilities.

By contributing to the Access to Recreation Endowment Fund, your donation will help SCCF take full advantage of this challenge and build the Endowment to a minimum level of $270,000! The funds will be invested for accessible recreation projects forever and you will be supporting a great cause right here in Sangamon County.

If you support accessible recreation projects in Sangamon County and would like your tax-deductible gift to be DOUBLED! Make checks payable to SCCF-A2R or contribute online at www.sccf.us Checks can be mailed to Sangamon County Community Foundation, One West Old State Capital Plaza, Suite 816, Springfield, IL 62701. Phone number: 217-789-4431.





SCIL in partnership with the Computer Banc

We have a fantastic partnership with the Computer Banc. If you know someone with a disability who is seeking a low-cost computer, we can send a referral letter on their behalf to the Computer Banc. A single person with a disability and no children will be required to pay a $100 refurbishment charge. This only covers the cost of new parts to bring the systems up to its original specifications. If it is a family with children with disabilities, the refurb fee is based on the household income,but will not exceed $100.00. Their hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.





ITAC Platinum Sponsor for SCIL's 2009 Annual Meeting






CURRENT ADVOCACY ISSUES

The Olmstead Implementation Act

Health Care Justice Campaign

click here to read more





A New Guidebook Filled with Wheel-Chair Accessible Vacation Ideas

101 Accessible Vacations

101 Accessible vacations is published by Demos Publishing and is the first book of its kind. It is a must have resource for wheelchair- or scooter-users, slow walkers, and travel agents. It's a guide to barrier-free travel.

101 Accessible Vacations is available at bookstores, through the publisher (800-532-8663) or on-line at www.101AccessibleVacations.com. Visit the web site to read a sample chapter, and see the table of contents for more information.

Information via email from author, Candy Harrington.





Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities

Now, you don't have to choose between your work and your health care coverage. Click on http://www.hbsdillinois for more information.





2009 AAHD Scholarship Program

American Association on Health and Disability 2009 Scholarship Program

The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) is proud to announce the creation of the 2009 AAHD Scholarship Program.

The AAHD Scholarship Program will support students with disabilities who are pursuing higher education, Preference will be given to students who plan to pursue undergraduate/graduate studies in the field of public health, health promotion, or disability studies, to include disability policy and disability research. Royalties from the Disability and Health Journal will fund the first year of the AAHD Scholarship Program.

Please visit www.aahd.us to read more about the Scholarship Program and to download the application.





Free Fishing License for People with Disabilities

Do you know anyone who has a disability and loves to fish? The fee for a fishing license is no longer a problem for some individuals who have disabilities! Thanks to Christina Bormida, Reintegration Specialist at Springfield Center for Independent Living for passing along this important information!

On the Department of Natural Resources website http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/programs/camping/discounts.htm there is information about how to get a free fishing license for people with disabilities. Illinois residents with a class 2 or class 2A disability are not required to purchase a resident sport fishing license. Your doctor will need to fill out an application called “Application for Illinois Disabled Person Identification Card” and bring this application to your nearest Driver Services Facility.

There is no fee for the ID card. You can print out the application from the following address: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/idcards.html and click on Application for Disabled Person Identification Card. The application has definitions of a class 2 or 2A disability for the doctor to refer to. When you receive your ID, you carry this with you to replace your fishing license.

Please contact Karen DeLay @ 523-2587 v/tty or 1-800-447-4221 if you would like additional information about this article or have questions about SCIL.





Reduction in Personal Assistant Funds

Letters to Governor Quinn. This cut in the Personal Assistance Program (PA) hurts many. Please read the letters below and compose your own letter to our Governor. Thank you.

The Honorable Pat Quinn
Governor, State of Illinois
Second Floor, Statehouse
Springfield IL 62726


Dear Governor Quinn:

I have learned that one of the budget cuts you made to the Home Services Program will eliminate contracts that 22 Centers for Independent Living have to provide training to persons with disabilities who rely on personal assistants (PA’s) for services in their home that prevent their institutionalization in nursing homes, recruits and provides training to potential PA’s, and maintains a referral list of trained PA’s. I am writing to strongly urge you to reconsider this cut for reasons I will explain.

This program is a shining example of your stated principle to reduce demands on higher-cost programs by investing in less costly prevention and intervention services. The recipients of this program are people who have been determined eligible for admission to a nursing home, but who want to remain in their own home. They are informed about and referred to the Home Services Program. In addition, they are trained in skills necessary to manage their personal assistant (PA). They are referred to potential PA’s from a list of candidates who have been recruited and trained by the Center for Independent Living. Center staff assist them in learning their responsibilities to complete paper work and sign their PA’s time sheets after assuring they are accurate. Follow up assistance is always available. For each consumer served by a Center who remains in their own home, the amount the state pays for Home Services is approximately 1/3 the cost of maintaining that same person in a nursing home. Over 2,000 persons receive these services each year.

Since 1999 the Centers have contracted with the state to conduct a community reintegration program, working with persons with disabilities under the age of 60 who live in nursing homes and wish to reintegrate into the community, with the agreement of their medical professionals. Each Center’s PA training program is closely intertwined with the Community Reintegration Program, helping the consumer develop the skill they need to manage the PA arrangement. Over the years, 1,500 individuals have reintegrated, saving the state tens of millions of dollars. The loss of the PA training contracts will seriously impede the Community Reintegration Program and diminish outcomes, costing the state more for nursing home care, and robbing many individuals of the opportunity to regain the freedom and dignity that comes with being in control of one’s own life.

Centers for Independent Living represent the cornerstone of the recently implemented Money Follows the Person program. This is a federal initiative intended to rebalance Medicaid long term care expenditures and eradicate the institutional bias that continues to drive up Medicaid costs. Rebalancing has long been expressed as a priority of your administration. Using the model of the Community Reintegration Program, Center staff serve as transition coordinators, providing all services needed to allow nursing home residents to successfully transition to a home in the community. The state receives an enhanced Medicaid match for each person transitioned for the first year of their community services. Over the life of the program, the state will gain $55 million in enhanced match.

Of the four pilot projects, the one conducted by the Centers is the only one operating statewide. As with the Community Reintegration Program, the PA training program is a significant component of the Money Follows the Person program. Without the ability to tap into these services, finding appropriate PA’s for consumers ready to transfer will become a serious barrier to successful transitions.

As you can see, the elimination of the PA training program will dismantle the foundation that allows the Centers to carry out these important programs that save the state money and improve the quality of life for so many.

While canceling this program will eliminate $1.6 million in cash payments this year, the long term cost to the state will be many times that amount in terms of higher Medicaid costs for institutional care and lost enhanced match for community transitions not accomplished.

For these reasons, I feel it is imperative that you re-examine this specific cut, and reverse this decision. We fully understand the enormous burden you have dealing with our state’s deficit, and we appreciate your struggle. We feel strongly, however, that this cut would actually lead to additional budget problems.

Thank you for your consideration. I would be happy to discuss this further with you or your staff.

Sincerely,

Ann Ford
Executive Director
Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living



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Honorable Pat Quinn
Governor, State of Illinois
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62726

Dear Governor Quinn:

You made a mistake but you can correct it. The Springfield Center for Independent Living (SCIL) just learned our Personal Assistant Contract through the Home Services Program at the Division of Rehabilitation will end September 30, 2009. Our program assists people with disabilities to recruit and train in-home Personal Assistants and prevents the need for institutionalization. Please do not end this essential program that helps people with disabilities remain independent.

As you may know, this program is in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Courts Olmstead Decision of 1999. In this decision the Supreme Court ruled that to deny a person with a disability the option to live in the least restrictive environment is discriminatory. The Department of Human Services, Home Services Program is one program the State of Illinois can be proud of as we work to comply with the Olmstead Decision of 1999.

Many, if not most, of the people with disabilities at SCIL rely on their Personal Assistants to get them in and out of bed, provide personal grooming needs, and other essential household tasks. The financial burden to the State of Illinois will likely increase as individuals, now living independently with the use of a Personal Assistant, will have no choice but to end up in a nursing home.

Whether you support the Home Services Program from the position of a human services philosophy or one of fiscal conservatism, or both, individuals with disabilities and the State of Illinois will benefit from Personal Assistant Programs at Centers for Independent Living.

Please reinstate the funding to Personal Assistant Contracts for FY 2010 to all Centers for Independent Living

Pete Roberts
Executive Director
Springfield Center for Independent Living





Work From Home?

Do you need funds to work from home? Or do you need money to begin, maintain, or upgrade your home-based business? If you answered yes to either question, the Telework Loan Program offered by the Illinois Assistive Technology Program (IATP) may be your answer. The Telework Loan Program offers cash loans to qualified Illinois residents with disabilities who are 18 years or older. You can use that money to purchase equipment or home modification for your home-based business. If you qualify, you can borrow as little as $500 or as much as $40,000. Your interest rate will be 5.5%, which is lower than banks, and you could choose an extended term of up to 15 years depending on the purchase. Longer terms mean lower monthly payments.

Let me tell you about one of our success stories. Have you had a great pizza, lately? IATP is proud to announce the recent opening of a pizzeria called Angel’s Place of Cicero, located in the western suburb of Chicago at 2521 South Central Avenue (708/329-1976). Angel’s Place of Cicero is owned and operated by John Garcia, an entrepreneur with a disability, an entrepreneur with commitment, perseverance, talent, and ability to pull together community resources. John is one to take notice.





See SCIL's Calendar of Events

What is going on at SCIL? See Calendar of Events for information.





Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System

Senior Safe Program

The Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System Department would like to inform you of a special program for Sangamon County seniors and citizens that are disabled. The Senior Safe program is offered by your local 9-1-1 center to have some helpful information on an individual prior to the arrival of medical or police personnel. Go to http://sangamoncounty911.org/about_sccds.htm for further information and to enroll.