Bomke, Brauer, advocates say Lincoln Developmental Center services must be restored; proposed new veterans home could share site         

[AUG. 22, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- State Sen. Larry K. Bomke, R-50, and state Rep. Rich Brauer, R-100, say the long-delayed opening of a new state center to serve individuals with severe developmental disabilities should go forward, and that a proposed state veterans home could share space at the same site but must not replace the developmental center.

Bomke, whose 50th District includes the city of Lincoln, has led the fight to reopen a state developmental center on the site of the shuttered Lincoln Developmental Center. Gov. Rod Blagojevich committed to the project, and the Department of Human Services led a broad-based task force that laid plans for Lincoln Estates, with group homes that would provide the most innovative programs and intensive services for individuals with severe developmental disabilities in central Illinois. Construction of the new group homes is under way, and they are virtually constructed, but the governor withdrew the funds in the fiscal 2007 budget to operate the facilities once they were completed.

Bomke and Brauer spoke Tuesday at a state Capitol news conference, where they were flanked by parents of individuals with developmental disabilities and officials representing veterans organizations.

"Rod Blagojevich should keep his promise to the central Illinois individuals and families who rely on the comprehensive behavioral and medical services that only a state-operated center can provide," Bomke said. "They have waited far too long for such a center to be restored in this community."

Lincoln Developmental Center was closed in 2002. The following year, Bomke secured a commitment in writing from Blagojevich to reopen the facility, and after much deliberation and discussion, the task force recommended it take the form of four 10-bed homes where individuals with severe developmental disabilities could get the intensive services and specialized support they need in a residential setting near their families.

"The governor should stop backtracking and get Lincoln Estates open now," said Cheryl Sheay, whose daughter Renee was forced to move from LDC when it closed. "Before LDC closed, we tried a community placement for Renee, but it couldn't meet her needs. We live in Decatur, so the next closest state center with a vacant bed was at Howe, in the Chicago suburbs. It is a great hardship for Renee and for our family not to have the care she needs in Lincoln."

Bomke also addressed the governor's recent indication of support for a proposal to open a state veterans home at the LDC site in place of the planned developmental center. The state already operates four veterans homes, Bomke pointed out, which are now so poorly funded that they have hundreds of empty beds due to lack of staff.

"It's hard to take seriously a proposal for a new veterans home when this administration has failed to provide the staff and resources needed by the veterans homes we already have," Bomke said.

Standing with Bomke and Brauer, Fred Albers of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Illinois said: "The VFW in Illinois would not support the opening of the Lincoln Developmental Center as a veterans home until funding is restored to the current Illinois veterans homes. The four veterans homes have some 200 empty beds waiting to be filled, with some 800-plus eligible Illinois veterans waiting for care. These homes should be fully funded and their beds filled immediately. The VFW cannot support placing veterans above the developmentally disabled residents that Lincoln Estates is intended to serve."

Bomke indicated he would support a plan to build a state veterans home in Lincoln if it shared the site with the new Lincoln Estates center for the developmental disabled. "It is wrong to pit the legitimate needs of two groups against each other," Bomke said. "We should serve both individuals with developmental disabilities and our state's veterans -- and we can, if the administration makes it a priority. Once Lincoln Estates is up and running, I would welcome discussions about building an Illinois Veterans Home on an adjacent part of the campus."

"The state has an obligation to provide quality care to our most vulnerable members of our community," said Brauer. "This administration has chosen to spend millions of dollars on pork projects to fund ballparks and music festivals this year instead of keeping their promises to those with severe developmental challenges and their families."

In a written statement, Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis stated: "The community of Lincoln would welcome veterans services to the planned development of Lincoln Estates. It would add to our vision of a residential development open to people of different ages and abilities. But we cannot accept that development happening at the expense of our former townspeople who wish to return to LDC."

[News release from Sen. Larry Bomke]

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