Certain Illinois Residents v State of Illinois
Judge Gives Green Light to Class Action Seeking Community Services For Certain Illinois Residents
When U.S. District Court Judge James Holderman granted class action status to a lawsuit charging the State of Illinois with violating the civil rights of developmentally disabled people, thousands of Illinois' disabled residents moved a step closer to having a choice over where they live. The lawsuit alleged that the State of Illinois violated the civil rights of people with developmental disabilities by effectively forcing them into large institutions rather than offering them the choice of living in smaller community settings.
Under Judge Holderman's ruling, the plaintiff class is comprised of people with developmental disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized in private state funded institutions and those at risk of unnecessary institutionalization. The latter group includes those living with elderly parents who one day will no longer be able to care for them at home. Now, Illinois gives them no choice but institutionalized care.
Ultimately, plaintiffs in this case are seeking an order that would require the state to provide them a choice to live within a smaller community setting. Community living provides more independence, privacy, and integration in the community.
"I want to live with friends in a small house or apartment and have my own room," says plaintiff Stanley Ligas. "I can do a lot of things on my own, and I want to be able to cook for myself." Instead, Ligas has been forced to live in a large institution for the past 12 years in order to receive Medicaid services, despite his repeated requests to move into the community
