“Special needs” is a growing problem in this country but it hasn’t been taken seriously by our lawmakers. There have been billions of dollars that have been thrown at the issue but by the time it gets to the local or individual level, it seems to have disappeared.
For 2009, the Federal Government has allotted $22.8 billion to be allotted to states specifically for rehabilitative services for developmental disabilities and special needs. The state of Illinois uses these funds to set aside $8 billion for special needs. Most of this money is set aside for public schools and formula grants. This means, the more special needs children that a public school enrolls, the more money it gets.
This seems like a lot of money, but it's going to a system that is understaff, inexperienced, underfunded, and ineffective. Not to mention it lets children fall through the cracks.
What if a child has more than one disability? That school gets no more money whether the child has one affliction or four. In fact, if a parent suspects another disability, that school will not bother to test for a second. Simply because the school will be spending money on testing that it will not recoup. I know several cases where this has happened.
Okay, back to the Illinois state budget. Since most of the money goes to the public schools, does any of it get to individuals? Well, some of it. The state of Illinois organized the Council for Developmental Disabilities. We’ve even talked to the assistant in this department, where he wasn’t even aware of the statistics. But we’ll get to that later.
The Council for the Developmental Disabilities is a department of 10 people. And the budget for 2009 allots it $4.3 million dollars. With almost 400,000 special needs children, that’s almost $11 a child. But wait, that’s the entire budget for the department. And it’s a department of 10 people. So how much gets granted to individuals for programs? $2.5 million is set aside for grants. That’s a little over $6 a child.
There are a little over 29,000 children in Illinois living with Autism. With a little over 1,600 new cased expected over the next 12 months. 4,000 with Down Syndrome, and 200,000 with ADHD. About 390,000 children in Illinois have some developmental disability. I doubt any has seen their six bucks. These are numbers from the CDC and Illinois own population data. When we presented these numbers to the Council for Developmental Disabilities, they were taken off guard. They had no idea. But they assured us they were doing every thing they could, and with an annual budget of $2.5 million, I had no doubts.
We’ve presented our cause to our local leaders and our cause have constantly fell on deaf ears.
Maybe it will concern them that over 2,000 children in his district live with a special need and with each child comes at least 2 registered voters. Meaning their parents. Not to mention the other family members and friends in that child’s life who sees that nothing on the state level is being done for their child.
We are speaking for those who can't speak for themselves and screaming for the parents and caregivers who only want to help their child.
If you need any questions answered or need any help, please write or visit our website.
john.rose@acceptbeliveandchange.org
richelle.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
http://www.acceptbelieveandchange.org/
Accept Believe and Change will follow
Life is about the journey, not the destination
John Rose, CPA
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