Settlement reached in lawsuit over housing
David Cicarelli owns a cat named Lion King. But the developmentally disabled man must keep his pet at his parents' home because the institution where he lives doesn't allow pets.
"It's like a prison," Cicarelli said.
A settlement being hailed as a historic leap forward for adults with developmental disabilities in Illinois may help Cicarelli get out of the institution. He was one of the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit that led to the landmark agreement filed in federal court on Thursday.
Cicarelli, 35, hopes the settlement will help him realize his dream of living in an apartment or a small group home with roommates. He may be able to get a real part-time job with help from a coach. He'll be able to curl up with Lion King every night, instead of seeing his pet only on weekends.
"I would pick and choose what I want," he said of his dream future.
Plaintiffs in the case, filed in 2005, claimed Illinois violated their civil rights and the rights of 6,000 disabled people living in 250 large institutions. A federally funded report ranks Illinois last in the nation for helping such people live more independently.
In the agreement, the state promised to move adults with mental retardation and other disabilities out of institutions if the residents so choose.
Disabled adults living at home with parents also will get help moving into their own apartments or small group homes.
Illinois must provide services that make it possible for the disabled to live on their own, according to the agreement. The state has six years to accomplish what's called a monumental task by both sides.
"We look forward to working with the state collaboratively to implement the important provisions" of the agreement, said Barry Taylor, legal advocacy director for Chicago-based Equip for Equality, one of four advocacy groups representing the plaintiffs.
Some institutions will close, industry experts predicted. And the transition will cost an undetermined amount of money, although ultimately the new system may be cheaper than relying on large institutions for care. A court-appointed monitor will oversee the reforms.
Pete Mule heads the facility where Cicarelli now lives with about 100 other developmentally disabled people. Cicarelli and other high-functioning residents will be better served under a reformed system with more choices for housing, he said.
But for older residents, change may be tough, said Mule, executive director of the nonprofit Riverside Foundation in Lincolnshire.
"We have people who've lived here 25 or 30 years," Mule said. "They may be 60 years old. Change may be very good for them, or it can be very difficult."
No one will be forced out of an institution, said John Grossbart, an attorney for the plaintiffs and a partner in Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal, which donated its time.
"If you love your institution you don't have to leave your institution," Grossbart said.
Illinois Department of Human Services spokesman Tom Green called the settlement "a landmark" and said it continues the state's efforts to help more people live independently.
In September, the state announced plans to close one large institution, Howe Developmental Center, in Tinley Park. The center houses about 350 adults and will close in July 2009. It had been stripped of federal funding because of problems with record keeping and resident care.
The agreement must be approved by Judge James Holderman, who has presided over the case.
"We've started on a path to move away from being dead last," said Mary Kay Rizzolo, a disability researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and co-author of the biennial federally funded report that ranks the states.
"We're really committed to the status quo in Illinois," Rizzolo said. "For some reason change scares us. We've invested in these institutions."
David's father, Jim Cicarelli, is a professor of economics at Chicago's Roosevelt University. The family moved to Illinois in the mid-1990s, he said, and discovered that state services for the developmentally disabled lagged behind New York state, their former home.
"It felt like we had moved back to the mid-1940s," he said. Jim and his wife, Julianne, put David on numerous waiting lists for small group homes, with no luck. They eventually joined the lawsuit, but thought "it was just going to be another dead end."
David comes home nearly every weekend and most holidays, a 20-mile round trip, the father said. Someday, when his son is able to live more independently and keep his cat, he's likely to visit his parents less often. But that's OK.
"Sometimes you can tell when it's time for him to go back on a Sunday night there isn't that spark of enthusiasm go back there," Jim Cicarelli said. "But he's a good sport."
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