WSIL —Since 2015, more than 20%of adult day care centers in Illinois have closed. Advocates say part of the reason is that there has not been a state rate increase in more than 10 years and rising costs.
Although in Marion is a multi-state provider and has been able to stay open, the company’s areadirector Indiana and IllinoisMikilyn Schutt, says smaller facilities could not handle the hardships.
"For us, we’ve been very fortunate during this hard time that we can keep going,"Schutt explains. "But,for some of your smaller ones, they’re just not able to keep up and pay the staff and pay what it takes."
She says adult day care centers provide a valuable service for family members who need to work or simply need a break while their loved one is watched over. She says facilities like ActiveDay assist clients that range in age from teens to seniors and have an array of needs.
"We can serve any type of member with medical need whether it might be dialysis, feeding tubes, whatever that might be," Schutt says.
The center provides breakfast,lunch and an afternoon snack. Workers alsoplandaily activities like games,cooking classes, and arts and crafts. "It’s centered what our members enjoy, what’s going to help stimulate them.It’s also going to be where they can make bonds and friendships," Schutt explains.
Adult day centers usually offer transportation for clients, picking them up in the morning and dropping them off at the end of the day. They’re also given rides to medical appointments during the day.
Laura Altenbaumer, ActiveDay Regional Director for Illinois and Indiana says, many care giversjust do not have cars that meet the needs of theirloved one’s.
"Perhaps somebody uses a wheel chair or walker and their vehicle is not large enough, so they are not able to get them to doctor’s appointments. They are not able to get them to the adult day center," Altenbaumer explains. "So if we are able to provide that service to them, we can help coordinate a lot of those medical appointments."
Advocates worry that facilities may not be able to maintain their services or that providers across the state will close without an increase in funding.
They’re pushing for , which would increase the hourly rate facilities are reimbursed from $9.02 an hour for an individual client to $15.02. It would also increase reimbursement for transportation from $8.30 per ride to $10.30.
State Representative Dave Severin says this type of boost in funding is neededwhile trying to balance the state budget, "I realize that we need to be fiscally conservative, we need to meet our needs, but we also need to help facilities like this that need to stay open."
Schutt adds that without these day centers, many care givers would have to quit their jobs and stay homeor put their loved ones in long-term care.
