About 60 disabled activists held a noontime rally at the State of Illinois Building on July 29, demanding that the state close down the Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park, a Chicago suburb.
Zena Naiditch of Equip for Equality, which runs a federally-mandated advocacy program for disabled-care facilities, said that her group has investigated 24 deaths at Howe since 2005. Other problems include insufficient food and drinks, incomplete and falsified medical reports, a lack of organized activities, and failure to report instances of neglect or abuse.
The federal government stripped Howe of $30 million in funding, but the state now contributes $60 million a year to keep it open. Howe has 324 patients.
Disabled activists are calling for Howe patients to have the right to fully-funded care and the right to live in residences and communities of their own choosing.
Demonstrators watched a guerilla theater skit satirizing Howe and chanted: “Free our people! Close Howe now!”
