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Details of an exact plan on how the
funds will be used and when the facility will reopen are not yet
available.
The Illinois Mental Health and
Disabilities Committee met with the Illinois Department of Health
and Human Services and other interested parties in the beginning of
May.
A task force was formed by DHS to
determine how to reopen the facility and what services could be
offered. The task force is looking at whether to build new, smaller
cottages like private agencies offer or renovate current buildings
on the LDC campus.
A possible total of $10 million was
being budgeted for the reopening at that time. Of that amount, $5
million was slated to come from the state budget for facility
development, and $3 million to $5 million from the DHS budget was
estimated to be available for staffing and operations.
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this article]
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A number of former residents' families
have expressed interest in bringing their family members back to
Lincoln.
A spokesman for Illinois Department of
Public Health, Ray Serati, could not comment at this time whether
the $7 million is to be used for facility development or if it is to
include staffing and operational expenses.
No further
information is available at this time.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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