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Judge Behle issued a temporary
restraining order to prohibit the state from any involuntary
transfer of residents until it has a permit from the Illinois Health
Facilities Planning Board. The board is not expected to take action
on the permit until Aug. 15.
This means the state cannot move 191 of
the residents still on the campus without their permission until the
board’s decision is announced. However, the future of the other 51
residents may still be in doubt.
Those 51 residents
have already agreed to move to other state-operated facilities,
according to Steven Puiszis, attorney for DHS, the agency that
oversees all state facilities for the developmentally disabled. DHS
had planned to move the 51 residents between July 2 and July 8.
However, because a
letter sent to families and guardians said LDC was slated to be
closed by Sept. 1 and did not say there was a chance, however slim,
that it might remain open indefinitely, these residents and their
guardians will have a chance to reconsider their decisions.
According to Steve
Yokich, attorney for the plaintiffs, these 51 residents must be
advised before they are physically moved that they cannot be forced
to leave LDC at this time. Most of the residents who agreed to move
are wards of the state, he said.
Judge Behle made it
clear that his injunction applies only to "involuntary moves" and
does not prevent any resident from voluntarily moving from LDC if
the resident and parents and guardians make that choice.
Attorneys for the
state argued that because DHS has applied for the permit, even
though it has not yet been approved, the agency can begin the
process of closure. Gov. George Ryan has ordered LDC closed
completely, citing health and safety issues for the residents.
Yokich argued that
the state is assuming it will get the permit to close LDC and so can
move residents without waiting for final approval. Moving residents
will cause "irreparable harm," he said, and if the IHFPB does not
approve the permit, the state will have to move them back, which
would also be destructive for residents and their families.
Puiszis said moving
residents would not constitute "irreparable harm" for either them or
their families. He said there are more than enough beds in the other
10 state-operated facilities to accommodate the LDC residents. The
69 who have local ties can go to Jacksonville, also in central
Illinois, which has 88 openings and provides the same services and
support that LDC does.
Puiszis also argued
that LDC will not be able to stay open because the state legislature
did not budget funds for it to operate this fiscal year. Only $5
million is in the budget, compared to $35 million for its operation
last year, when LDC had about 375 residents.
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article] |
In its recent budget
session, the legislature put $35 million back into the budget for
LDC, but Gov. Ryan vetoed the appropriation. The Senate later failed
to override the veto.
Yokich said he
believed funds can be found. "If they’ve got money in the budget to
hire people in Jacksonville to care for LDC residents, they can move
money out of that budget," he said.
However, he added,
the court should not have to rule on money issues.
"Let the chips fall
where they may. Let the political actors take responsibility for the
chips," he said.
Puiszis also argued
that the plaintiffs — American Federation of State, County,
Municipal Employees, which represents most LDC workers; Norlan and
Eleanor Newmister, parents of an LDC resident; Don Todd, president
of AFSCME Local 425; and state Sen. Larry Bomke — did not have legal
standing to sue the state.
He also argued that
because the 4th District Appellate Court is considering arguments in
the case Judge Behle does not have jurisdiction to address it at
this time.
Behle replied that he
did not intend to address issues of legal standing at this hearing.
Puiszis also argued
that LDC residents should be moved because they are not receiving
the care they need.
He suggested that if
LDC remains open and runs out of money, its remaining residents may
have to be sent to their homes.
At least 50 people,
many of them parents or relatives of LDC residents or LDC employees,
filled the courtroom for the two-hour-long hearing.
One parent, Rosemary
Murray, who lives in Friendship Manor and is in frail health, was
encouraged by the judge’s ruling.
"I’m still not
looking for any other place to put my son," she said.
She said she visits him each week and
would have a hard time getting to Jacksonville to see him.
[Joan
Crabb] |
