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* Kurt Erickson takes a closer look at the numbers used by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration to justify closing the Warren G. Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, which cares for severely developmentally disabled people…
To bolster their argument, the state says it costs taxpayers $239,000 per year to house residents at Murray. Placing them in private facilities would cost $120,000, they estimate.
The state’s figures, however, are intellectually dishonest. Here’s why.
The cost per resident in fiscal year 2006 when Murray had 342 residents was about $130,000 per year, according to figures provided by the Illinois Auditor General’s office.
In fiscal year 2009, when there were 298 residents, the average cost was listed as $180,000 per year.
Now, with the population down to about 230 residents, the cost has skyrocketed because they haven’t reduced the number of employees at the facility.
In other words, the cost of housing residents in Murray would be significantly cheaper if they actually filled all 372 beds or reduced the number of people working there.
Excellent point.
*** UPDATE *** From DHS…
Rich,
Before Governor Quinn took office, Illinois institutionalized more people than any other state in the nation. We are now changing under the direction of the governor to improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities in Illinois.
We are committed to rebalancing and improving Illinois’ system of care for people with developmental disabilities. Evidence strongly suggests that residents living in smaller homes have a better quality of life and participate more in their community. Moving individuals from large, outdated institutions to community settings also saves taxpayer dollars.
To be clear, the article that published last weekend regarding the operational costs of the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia was incomplete and deserves further clarification.
There are several ways to calculate the cost per resident in a state operated developmental center (SODC). The first is a basic calculation that divides the annual spending by the average number of residents. For the Murray Developmental Center, that puts the annual cost per resident at $143,217. The other, more thorough and complete method is based on methodology and reimbursement rates used by the federal government. This method includes costs that are not included in an SODC budget but in the broader state budget, such as medication, retirement contributions, group insurance, worker’s comp, union wage increases and facility improvements. Under this comprehensive and more accurate calculation, the annual cost is about $239,934 per resident at Murray Center and approximately $120,000 in the community.
The article calls into question whether more money could be saved by cutting down the number of staff. But the reason the Illinois Department of Human Services is maintaining employee headcount during the closure process is to ensure a safe and secure transition for remaining residents. So yes, the cost of operation under the simple calculation indeed increases as the closure process continues. However, that is a small and temporary price to pay to ensure a safe facility closure. And once the transition is complete, delivery of care will not only be more cost-efficient, it will also offer people with disabilities a higher quality of life and that’s the point in the first place.
Januari Smith
Communication Manager
IL Dept. of Human Services
That response twists the essential meaning of Erickson’s piece, which is that DHS and Quinn are using these new numbers to justify closing down a state facility.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 10:01 am
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How to lie with statistics…
Comment by Wondering Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 10:11 am
Figures don’t lie, liars figure.
Comment by Tobor Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 10:21 am
The same argument can be used in prisons.
Comment by Stones Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 10:30 am
Does Murrray exist to provide jobs or to provide the right care in the right place for severely developmentally disabled people? You shouldn’t just “fill the beds” to justify hiring people if that’s not the best place for DD people to be cared for.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 10:40 am
=== You shouldn’t just “fill the beds” to justify hiring people if that’s not the best place for DD people to be cared for. ===
You also shouldn’t place DD clients in a facility simply because it’s cheaper. Care should be the preeminent concern, but it isn’t because of the fiscal problems facing the state.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 11:02 am
There is no one size fits all kind of residence for any of us, let alone those folks with disabilities. Illinois does lag behind other states with regards to community integration - the current standard. However, saying that costs will be less in the community settings ignores a few facts. One such fact is that folks working in group homes are not getting the same salaries as the state employees do in a place like Murray DC. Given the rate at which home health care workers are being unionized it could be said that it is only a matter of time before those lower paid folks could start seeing the higher salaries and the state would lose that justification for moving folks out of the state ops.
Comment by dupage dan Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 11:38 am
DuPage Dan, as much as I would like to see direct care staff make the kind of money in community agencies that staff at state facilites make, there is no reason I can see that it will happen. Unless the state dramatically increases funding, we will have serious trouble even dealing with an increase in minimum wage. Our wage scales have virtually collapsed since the major funding cuts started six years ago. Staff don’t even know what a raise feels like anymore.
Comment by Aldyth Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 12:05 pm
CILAs are fine for a defined percentage of developmentally disabled but they lack certain advantages that larger facilities bring such as 24 hour medical attention that some residents require. One size does not fit all but the Quinn administration seems to have bought into the D & D mentality of downsize and dump into the community and let private vendors care for the most vulnerable as well as those who benefit from community living environments. There is no balance with in this administration and that is not a benefit to many who are challenged but is sure is to the market makers who are enjoying the sudden flow of federal and state dollars into their business models.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 12:40 pm
Sounds like the Governor’s people are throwing everything into the Murray cost including the cost of new kitchen sinks! But state centers like Murray have doctors, RNs, behavior, speech and dietary specialists right on sight which is included in that cost. Do the community costs Ms Smith provides include the charges to the state for Medicaid providers to provide similar care? Because that is not included in the community rate.
Comment by Jeff Park Mom Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 12:50 pm
Aldyth,
Salaries for state employees @ DCs or elsewhere, didn’t leap overnite. I’m talking long term, not short. Remember, once they are organized and can put pressure on the state things can change. I don’t think SEIU has a no strike clause with health care workers yet.
Comment by dupage dan Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 1:27 pm
The notion that the residents at Murray will receive better care in the community is not true, because of the degree of their disabilities. Governor Quinn has been repeatedly been asked to visit Murray and see the situation with his own eyes, but has refused that invitation.
Comment by jake Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 1:46 pm
DuPage Dan,
I’ve worked in this field since 1979 and we haven’t seen wages leap or even grow steadily in the 34 years I’ve been in this field. The best years were the mid-eighties when the field was growing and innovation was supported by the state. Since then, funding has never kept up with inflation, let alone sufficiently to be competitive. I used to be able to hire college graduates for direct service. Now, they can’t afford to work in this field. Wages have been stagnant for ten years. When college students ask about working in this field, I tell them to go to another state. There is no job security in Illinois in this field and very few paths to making a living wage.
Comment by Aldyth Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 1:49 pm
What has to be taken into account is quality care. THere is a need for the state facilities to care for those special people who CANNOT be cared for safely in the community. This has already been shown by the abuse and neglect shown to the wards of the state who DHS has moved into the community from Murray Center. They deserve far better than this. That is why Murray is there….to provide quality safe care for the severely disabled. I have never seen it duplicated in the community and I have been looking for over 15 years…….when the state puts the money and oversite into community care maybe parents would feel differently. We want our children to live, not be abused and die in the community because DHS will not provide quality care.
Comment by RIta Reads Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 2:04 pm
Rita Reads: Care to produce evidence of this abuse and neglect you talk about? You know like documented police and OIG reports?
Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 2:13 pm
Quinn and DHS are losing in Federal court. The Federal judge rules last week that they had NOT proved that the community alternatives are cheaper.
The Federal judge also ruled that Olmstead, the U.S. Supreme Court decision, did NOT require the closing of Murray.
The Federal case was continued until January 6, and until then NO one can be moved out of Murray without the permission of their parent.
The guardian appointed by the State court to represent the interests of wards of the State
has documented horrible conditions and treatment for some of the former residents of Murray moved
out earlier this year.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 2:46 pm
Aldyth - all the more reason for a likely organizing effort on the part of unions. I agree that employees in the group homes have not seen much improvement in salary. It makes it hard to recruit decent employees, as you indicate. There have been some disturbing incidents tied to low wage employees. Another point of pressure on the agencies and/or funding body if a few serious incidents occur. Unfortunately, that’s how changes come about.
Comment by dupage dan Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 4:01 pm
I worked at Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford Illinois for over 15 years. When I first started there a veteran employee talked off and on about how DHS wanted to get out of the civil MI and DD business….Never really thought about that till now…Originally DHS and Quinn’s office’s ‘rebalancing’ called for the closure of 2 facilities for mental health and 4 for centers for developmental disabilities all by FY14. The mental health facility in Tinley Park (which had been DECERTIFIED years prior to closure) closed first. Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford (which had passed EVERY certification for years and had been in the top 3) was closed last October. Jacksonville Developmental Center was next. So the state has 3 more to close. At Singer Mental Health Center’s hospital review board hearing DHS stated that services were going to be centralized after the rebalancing and forensic services of Elgin and McFarland would be expanded. Rumored to be closing next was Choate, Mabley and Fox making one assume that the centralization of services for at least the DD population being around the Chicago area..(Kiley, Shapiro, Ludeman) With the recent concerns of jail overcrowding in Cook county one would assume the department would have to expand Elgin’s forensic services sooner than later. Possibly making the entire center forensic while Read and Madden remain civil. Or that could all be a paranoid theory.
Comment by JDYFJ Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 6:24 pm
It takes a lot of nerve to accuse someone of intellectual dishonesty, i.e., lying about a significant issue like this. I’d like to see Erickson respond to J Smith’s analysis. She’s quite correct that the way the budget is presented in the (now online) budget book fails to include many of the costs of operating a facility such as Murray. You can dispute the use of one set of numbers over another, but please don’t pull the intellectual dishonesty line. It’s over the line.
Comment by DuPage Dave Tuesday, Oct 15, 13 @ 8:05 pm