CHICAGO, IL – State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) announced today that legislation designed to protect many seniors from self neglect was signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn.

House Bill 2388 directly deals with the serious disorder of hoarding, which involves a person who refuses or is unable to discard large quantities of items and materials. In severe cases this lifestyle can create an extensively cluttered living space, which can threaten the life and safety of those in the household, in particular seniors living on their own.

"It is vital that we protect our seniors and offer them assistance with any compulsive hoarding problems they may have," said Senator Hunter. "Many seniors may be unable to discard these large quantities of items on their own due to lack of resources or because of strong emotional attachments to useless objects, all of which can interfere with living space."

Under this new law the Illinois Department on Aging will now be required to ensure that eligible seniors are removed from their residences and placed into temporary housing while repairs or removal of cluttering is occurring. Caseworkers as well as counselors will then be assigned to ensure that these hoarding tendencies do not re-occur.

"I believe we have a responsibility to protect our seniors from these dangerous living conditions," said Hunter. "This is one step in the right direction in offering our seniors a better quality of life and preventing senior self neglect."