In the Chicago Tribune, a letter to the editor from Kristin MacRae:

The great state of Illinois is dead last — 51st actually, when the District of Columbia is included — in the soon-to-be-released “2008 State of the States in Developmental Disabilities” ranking published annually by the American Association for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.

… Who’s at risk here? If you are, or will ever become, the parent of a child with developmental disabilities such as mental retardation, autism or Down syndrome, you may want to consider moving to another state. That’s because your child has the potential to live a full, enriched life — like any other child — though he or she will require specific services to maximize this inherent promise.

… It is estimated that Illinois would need to spend an additional $250 million in state funds just to reach “average” in terms of spending on these kinds of services. Instead we’ve become a national disgrace in the way we prioritize citizens with special needs. Despite our relative prosperity (Illinois is the 10th richest state in per capita income), despite Chicago’s renown as a world-class city, despite the good intentions of our hardworking and socially conscious citizens, no state treats its citizens with special needs more callously than ours.

MacRae is the president and CEO of the Chicago ARC.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Down syndrome, autism, funding, intellectual disabilities, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post