Step up now for disabled adults or pay later

I am the father of a young adult with autism who will be aging out of the Illinois School System on April 30 because of the age 22 limit. I never thought that when I started advocating for a better future and services for my son when he was 12 years old that I would be fighting an even harder battle with state legislators, the Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Department of Health and Family Services and now Gov. Pritzker 10 years later, when the school bus will stop coming and he comes to that cliff into the bleak unknown of adulthood for people with developmental disabilities.

In the year 2020, statements from state legislators and state employees on the issue of the future of adults with developmental disabilities, are the same from representatives from the state as they were in 2010.

But here are the facts on what is the truth on progress. Illinois in 2010 was 47th to 51st in the nation providing services to help people like my son and others who enter into adulthood and in 2020.

While my family appreciates the governor's leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, the truth for many parents who are living through this crisis is that we don't have the support for caring for adults if something happens to our health.

If the state needs a federal stimulus to fill in the state budget gaps, get it done. If more money from the federal government needs to be applied for. do it. If a graduated tax needs to be passed to to help fund DD services, pass it. If not, then the state of Illinois better get ready to fund 100% of the futures of adults when parents cannot.

That's what will happen when you refuse to acknowledge and not tackle problems for many years.

Mike Baker

Schaumburg