Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ordered Illinois to come up with a plan to improve care provided to disabled individuals, reports Reuters.
The judge said Illinois violated a federal consent decree when it did not offer these individuals "resources of sufficient quality, scope and variety," according to the report.
The state was in a budget impasse until last month. Ms. Johnson noted Illinois' "dire financial condition" in her ruling and said she could not order the state to increase funding for disabled care, reports Reuters. However, she did order the state to come up with a plan for improving such care and comply with the federal consent decree.
The judge's ruling comes after the Illinois Attorney General's Office opposed a potential court order that would have increased state funding for disabled care by up to $1 billion per year, saying such an order could mean budget cuts to other programs.
The state's budget for fiscal year 2018 currently includes $53.4 million for disabled care, according to the report. Now, "the state will continue to meet all its legal obligations and will review the court's rulings to determine appropriate next steps," a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Human Services told Reuters via email.
A status hearing on the matter is scheduled for late October, according to the report.
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