The Chicago Tribune has an excellent profile of some of the individuals with developmental disabilities who will be affected by the settlement of Ligas v. Maram:

When Stanley Ligas talks about moving out of the 96-bed facility where he has lived for years and into a small, community-based home for people with developmental disabilities, he describes it like this:

"You know how Jiminy Cricket sings, 'When you wish upon a star'? That's what it's like for me. It would be a dream come true."

Ligas is one of several plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that might soon give Illinoisans with developmental disabilities more opportunities to live in community homes.

"I want to work full time," said Ligas, 43, who now lives in the Sheltered Village facility in Woodstock and gets out a couple of days a week to work at a nearby Popeyes restaurant. "It's really what I need. I'm ready to move."

Read the whole thing.

Thousands of adults with developmental disabilities may soon win the right to move out of state-funded institutions into smaller, community based housing under a settlement before U.S. District Judge James Holderman. The Chicago Tribune writes:

Thousands of Illinois adults with developmental disabilities — many of whom have spent years on a 21,000-plus waiting list for state services — will soon have more choices in housing under a proposed settlement to a long-running federal lawsuit.

The settlement, if approved as expected Wednesday by U.S. District Judge James Holderman, would upend how the state now pays for their care. Rather than assigning dollars to institutions, the money would follow the individual to the housing of their choice. The goal is to bring Illinois into compliance with the 1990 federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that people with disabilities be allowed to live in the "most integrated setting" within their communities.
...
"We view this as a civil rights case in the truest sense of the word," said John Grossbart, a Chicago lawyer representing five plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Human Services. He noted that Illinois ranks second to last nationally, just above Mississippi, in serving people with developmental disabilities in community-based settings, according to the State of the States in Developmental Disabilities 2011 report by the University of Colorado.

Read the whole thing.

A group of students from El Cuarto Ano Association House Alternative High School took care of business on Wednesday, meeting with Congressman Danny Davis, and asking him to become a co-sponsor of HR 998, the Student Non-Discrimination Act. The students, members of the school's GSA, discussed the importance of the legislation which would help end bullying and anti-lgbt discrimination in schools across the nation as well as their own experiences witnessing and being the victims of bullying.

Congressman Davis was particularly impressed by the book and survey the students presented to him - the results of their research into student's perceptions of their own safety at school. The school climate survey revealed that El Cuarto Ano, which has strong anti-bullying policies and a supportive staff and administration made the school environment feel much safer to students of all sexual orientations, in sharp contrast to the results of national school climate surveys taken by GLSEN.

In response to the student's request (and in keeping with his own strong record on supporting LGBT Rights) Congressman Davis agreed to co-sponsor the Student Non-Discrimination Act, and called his legislative director from the meeting to ask her to arrange it.

The ACLU of Illinois was so proud to have the opportunity to work with these amazing students. The El Cuarto Ano GSA is filled with strong, opinionated leaders who took a stand to help students around the country experience a safe, positive learning environment like the one at ECA. Congratulations to them, and many thanks to Congressman Davis for his continues support of LGBT individuals in Illinois and around the nation.