(305 ILCS 5/5-5.4f)

Sec. 5-5.4f. Intermediate care facilities for persons with developmental disabilities quality workforce initiative.

(a) Legislative intent. Individuals with developmental disabilities who live in community-based settings rely on direct support staff for a variety of supports and services essential to the ability to reach their full potential. A stable, well-trained direct support workforce is critical to the well-being of these individuals. State and national studies have documented high rates of turnover among direct support workers and confirmed that improvements in wages can help reduce turnover and develop a more stable and committed workforce. This Section would increase the wages and benefits for direct care workers supporting individuals with developmental disabilities and provide accountability by ensuring that additional resources go directly to these workers.

(b) Reimbursement. Notwithstanding any provision of Section 5-5.4, in order to attract and retain a stable, qualified, and healthy workforce, beginning July 1, 2010, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services may reimburse an individual intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities for spending incurred to provide improved wages and benefits to its employees serving the individuals residing in the facility. Reimbursement shall be based upon patient days reported in the facility's most recent cost report. Subject to available appropriations, this reimbursement shall be made according to the following criteria:

(1) The Department shall reimburse the facility to compensate for spending on improved wages and benefits for its eligible employees. Eligible employees include employees engaged in direct care work.

(2) In order to qualify for reimbursement under this Section, a facility must submit to the Department, before January 1 of each year, documentation of a written, legally binding commitment to increase spending for the purpose of providing improved wages and benefits to its eligible employees during the next year. The commitment must be binding as to both existing and future staff. The commitment must include a method of enforcing the commitment that is available to the employees or their representative and is expeditious, uses a neutral decision-maker, and is economical for the employees. The Department must also receive documentation of the facility's provision of written notice of the commitment and the availability of the enforcement mechanism to the employees or their representative.

(3) Reimbursement shall be based on the amount of increased spending to be incurred by the facility for improving wages and benefits that exceeds the spending reported in the cost report currently used by the Department. Reimbursement shall be calculated as follows: the per diem equivalent of the quarterly difference between the cost to provide improved wages and benefits for covered eligible employees as identified in the legally binding commitment and the previous period cost of wages and benefits as reported in the cost report currently used by the Department, subject to the limitations identified in paragraph (2) of this subsection. In no event shall the per diem increase be in excess of $5.00 for any 12 month period for an intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities with more than 16 beds, or in excess of $6.00 for any 12 month period for an intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities with 16 beds or less.

(4) Any intermediate care facility for persons with developmental disabilities is eligible to receive reimbursement under this Section. A facility's eligibility to receive reimbursement shall continue as long as the facility maintains eligibility under paragraph (2) of this subsection and the reimbursement program continues to exist.

(c) Audit. Reimbursement under this Section is subject to audit by the Department and shall be reduced or eliminated in the case of any facility that does not honor its commitment to increase spending to improve the wages and benefits of its employees or that decreases such spending.

(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)