Public Accountability Report

The mission of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission is to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities by providing public guardianship services, legal representation, and a process to investigate alleged disability rights violations. The Commission's enabling legislation is the Guardianship and Advocacy Act of 1979 (20 ILCS 3955/1 et seq.). The Commission is governed by 11 Commissioners appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for three-year terms of office. Each Commissioner provides specific expertise consistent with the Commission's mission to serve and safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities.

The Commission fulfills its mission through these primary programs: the Human Rights Authority (HRA), which through nine regional panels of citizen volunteers, investigates alleged rights violations committed against persons with disabilities by disability service providers; the Legal Advocacy Service (LAS), which provides legal advice and representation to individuals with disabilities facing mental health proceedings; the Office of State Guardian (OSG), which serves as the court-appointed guardian of last resort for adults with disabilities; and the Special Education Initiative, which is a collaboration of the HRA and the LAS intended to help Illinois families navigate special education through training, advocacy, and legal support.

HRA measures focus on the program's ability to negotiate improved disability rights protections with service providers when rights violations are investigated, substantiated, and corrected. Substantiated rights violations result in recommendations that focus on systemic changes to provider policies, procedures, and/or practices that benefit both current and future service recipients. In fiscal year 2025, 99% of recommendations issued were accepted and implemented by disability service providers investigated. Implemented recommendations and suggestions impacted 90,323 persons with disabilities at an average cost of $18 per person impacted.

LAS measures exemplify a high level of service provision at a very efficient cost. In fiscal year 2025, 11,800 individuals were served at an average cost of $244 per client, and 10,300 cases were handled at an average cost of $279 per case. When compared to private sector legal cases, the LAS budget represents 27% of private sector costs for the same amount of legal hours. The LAS also assists individuals with mental health advance directives as a means to self-direct future service provision; the LAS handled 778 requests for advance directive assistance in fiscal year 2025.

The OSG served as guardian for 4,789 persons in fiscal year 2025. Alternative guardianship sources were found for 72% of referrals in fiscal year 2025. When appropriate, the OSG seeks community living options for the persons it serves, with 49% residing in the community during fiscal year 2025. The average guardianship representative caseload for guardianship of the person cases remains higher than the national average at 108 cases per representative. OSG output measures demonstrate the numerous case management activities completed on behalf of individuals served by the OSG. The average cost of individuals served by the OSG was $1,017 per person in fiscal year 2025.

The Special Education Initiative, a collaboration between the HRA and the LAS, trained 298 persons on special education laws and rights in fiscal year 2025, served 397 individuals, and handled 70 outreach events.

General Cross-Divisional Projects track internal staff development activities, public awareness efforts, and persons served by the OSG who may be eligible for rights restorations. In fiscal year 2025, 330 trainings were provided internally to agency staff, 956 outreach activities occurred, and 53 individuals served by the OSG were identified as possible referrals for rights restorations.