Thursday, Feb. 6

 

Job search becoming crucial
for many LDC workers

[Click here for "Former LDC employees may have new hope."]

[FEB. 6, 2003]  If Gov. Rod Blagojevich decides to reopen a section of the Lincoln Developmental Center, former employees still without jobs would be rehired if their classifications fit the needs of the institution. For some, getting their old jobs back would solve major problems, especially the problem of health insurance. For all, going back to LDC would give them the satisfaction of returning to a job they loved and felt was important.

Bob Benedict of Lincoln is stepping up his search for a full-time job. The former LDC employee will lose his state health insurance the end of this month, and for him and his wife, that's a serious situation.

Bob has high blood pressure and needs medication that costs about $90 a month, but that's not the real problem. His wife has multiple sclerosis, is in the secondary stage of the degenerative disease and needs medications that cost much more. The disease can't be cured but can sometimes be slowed down, and just one of the medications his wife is taking to try to arrest it costs $1,200 a month.

Bob can get COBRA, which doesn't disqualify him or his family for pre-existing conditions, but that will be costly, $300 to $400 a month, and will last for only 18 months. He needs a job with insurance benefits, but at age 54 finding it isn't easy. He's been calling phone numbers and answering ads in area newspapers, but he says nobody is hiring.

Working for LDC wasn't Bob's original plan, even though he became a third-generation LDC employee. He had hoped to retire from Lehn and Fink, but when they closed he felt lucky to get a job at LDC. Not only that, he found he liked working there.

"I worked with severe behaviors. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed the work. I liked buying treats for the residents -- Cokes and candy. It made them feel like they were somebody. I liked to see a smile on their faces.

"I think a lot about the different residents I worked with and what happened to them. They were like family. That's why it was so hard to see them put on the buses and leave. It was like saying goodbye to family."

 

Pat Hinds of New Holland hoped to retire from LDC, where she had worked since she graduated from high school. She thinks the line on her resume saying she worked 24 years there is a disadvantage, because people think she's too old to hire.

"I've been everywhere -- all over Springfield and Lincoln, at over 30 places, and I've only had one interview," she said. She has a good medical background; she's a certified nurse's assistant, an emergency medical technician, and she had a supervisory job at LDC, but she isn't getting the kind of job she needs or feels she is qualified for.

"I think the job market is saturated around here, maybe because of the places in Decatur that have closed. I heard on TV that there are over 1,900 people unemployed in the area," she said.

"I could get a job making less than half what I made at LDC, but being single and on my own, and with rent and utilities what they are, I can't make it on a minimum-wage job," she said. Also, she needs health insurance, as hers will run out the end of this month.

She wants to continue working with the developmentally disabled and applied for a job as a home administrator for a CILA. She was willing to work for $14,000 less a year than she made at LDC, but the CILA group thought she was asking for too much money and turned her down.

 

 

[to top of second column in this article]

She's considering looking for a job at the Dwight Developmental Center, where several former LDC residents she was especially fond of were sent, even though the commute is almost two hours each way. She doesn't want to leave the area because all her family is here.

"I miss a lot of the residents; they were like my family," she said. "I keep in touch with a couple of them, and some of the residents' families still keep in touch with me and talk to me about their concerns for their loved ones."

What she'd like most, she said, is to see Gov. Rod Blagojevich keep his promise to reopen LDC so she could go back to work there.

Kim Morris of Lincoln had worked at LDC for almost 12 years before it closed. Now she's taking classes at Midwest Technical Institute to qualify as a medical assistant and working part time in a CILA with a lot of her old LDC residents. She has a Pell grant and WIA to help with her education expenses.

She thinks she might just be able to finish her education before her unemployment compensation runs out, but she'll be going without health insurance until she gets another full-time job.

"I can't afford COBRA; I'm barely getting by on what I'm making," she said. When she does get out of school, she'll have to get a job immediately if she hopes to keep the house she is buying. Also, her car is old and she's concerned about transportation if she has to take a job in another town.

Right now she is even more discouraged than usual. She just learned of the death of one of her favorite LDC residents, a woman about her own age that she often took on outings and visited on her days off. The resident was moved several times and died in another state-operated institution.

Diane Sizemore of Mount Pulaski knows she is luckier than many of her former co-workers. For one thing, she doesn't have to worry about health insurance. Her husband has a job with the state, and his insurance covers the family.

Diane started working at LDC in 1994, and at the time it closed she was a temporary living unit administrator. She was working to qualify for the position permanently, making an extra effort by taking classes and learning on the job.

She is trying to find a job with an income comparable to the pay at LDC, so she can be sure her two children, ages 10 and 13, can have a college education. She has applied twice for positions at the Jacksonville Developmental Center but hasn't been successful. She could get work in a nursing home as a CNA or in a CILA, but her income would be much less, about half what she made before.

Most of all, she wants to continue working with people who need her, and she wants to stay in Lincoln because her family and friends are here. "That's why I really want to work either at McFarland Mental Health Center in Springfield or at Jacksonville," she said. Of course, she'd rather go back to LDC if it should reopen.

"I loved my work at LDC. That's what I wanted to do forever. It was so rewarding knowing that I made a difference in somebody's life."

[Joan Crabb]


Blagojevich names additional
department directors

New leaders at Public Aid, Human Rights

[FEB. 6, 2003]  CHICAGO -- Two new department directors will be given the task of carrying out Gov. Rod Blagojevich's efforts to reform state government and bring about a new way of doing business within the state offices they will lead.

The new department leaders were announced Tuesday afternoon by Blagojevich. Barry S. Maram, an attorney with vast experience in the issue of health care financing, will lead the Department of Public Aid. Maram has previously served in senior management positions within state government under a Republican governor.

Blagojevich also announced the appointment of Rocco Claps as director of the Department of Human Rights. Claps brings to his position experience in state, county and federal government.

"In these individuals, I have found people who are exceptionally well-qualified for their assignments and who have a tremendous commitment to serving the people of this state," the governor said.

"Barry Maram and Rocco Claps will also be essential members of a team that will bring about real change to Illinois. They share my belief that renewing people's faith in their leaders begins with bringing real reform to state government," he said.

In addition to the selections of Maram and Claps, Blagojevich announced another cabinet-level appointment on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the governor named Ernesto Velasco to lead the Illinois Department of Corrections. Velasco will be the first Latino to serve in the post.

The two additional appointments are:

Rocco Claps -- Department of Human Rights

Since 1999, Claps has served as deputy assessor for Cook County. In that role, he has managed all policy initiatives for the assessor's office and oversees workflow and personnel decisions within the office. During the Clinton administration, Claps held a variety of positions, including a key post within the Department of Health and Human Services. As director of scheduling and advance for then-Secretary Donna E. Shalala, he helped restructure the secretary's office and helped coordinate the secretary's interactions with the heads of the divisions within HHS. In 1996, he was chief of staff for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

 

From 1987 to 1992, he worked for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, working with lawmakers to develop legislation.

Claps is a 1983 graduate of Illinois State University.

Barry S. Maram -- Department of Public Aid

As a lawyer and a veteran of Illinois government, Maram has extensive background in health care financing and various policy issues affecting the state.

Maram served in senior state positions under then-Gov. James Thompson. In 1985, he was associate director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, director of the Office of Health Finance, where he coordinated and directed state health care issues, including reimbursement and other matters affecting hospitals, nursing homes and other health institutions.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

From 1986 to 1989, Maram served as executive director of the Illinois Health Facilities Authority, which serves as the state's central financing agency on behalf of health care institutions. There, Maram directed and coordinated all business and administrative activities of the authority.

He is an attorney at the law firm of Foley & Lardner, where he serves as special counsel practicing health care law. He also serves as an adjunct professor at IIT-Kent College of Law, where he received his law degree in 1971.

Maram holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and in 1985 he received a master's degree focusing in public policy from the University of Chicago.

- - -

Blagojevich said that the department leaders will be assigned to help the state carry out some of its most important functions, while recognizing that in a period of a historic fiscal crisis the agency leaders will have to develop innovative approaches to serving the public.

"This is a period when each and every department director will need to focus on serving the public while also carefully safeguarding the taxpayers' dollars," he said.

Blagojevich cited the individuals' talents and expertise as key factors in their selections, as well as their willingness to help him change the way Springfield operates.

"I have selected Mr. Maram, Mr. Claps and Mr. Velasco because I am confident that they will combine their impressive backgrounds in their respective fields with a fresh approach to doing business," he said.

Blagojevich said that he will call upon the new directors to "echo my message of reform to all the people working in their departments," he said.

"For each of them, job number one is to put all employees on notice that that this administration is committed to bringing about dramatic change to the state government, and that we expect every state employee to share our dedication to reform," Blagojevich said.

Underscoring the new governor's commitment to reforming state government and addressing the state's deficit, Blagojevich has -- within his first three weeks in office -- taken substantive action aimed at restoring people's faith in their leaders and imposing greater discipline on state spending.

Blagojevich terminated the employment of more than 60 individuals holding positions that were filled in the closing weeks of the previous administration.

Since taking office, the new governor has taken other steps aimed at dramatically reforming state government. Previously, he called for the strengthening of ethics training and investigations within state government; he froze the ability of agency heads to acquire new cars or pad the state payroll; and he called for a thorough review of all projects funded through members' initiatives.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]

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Blagojevich names director of Department of Corrections

Velasco is first Latino ever selected for the position

[FEB. 6, 2003]  CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced on Tuesday his selection of the individual who will lead the state's Department of Corrections.

Ernesto Velasco, who served as director of the Cook County jail system, was chosen by the governor today to serve as director of the department that has the second-most employees in state government.

Velasco is the first member of the Latino community ever appointed to the position.

"I am proud to have selected for this position someone who will serve as an inspirational leader to all of those employees -- and to people across the state," Blagojevich said.

The governor cited Velasco's impressive life-story, which he said should serve as an inspiration to people across Illinois. He pointed out that Velasco came to Chicago as a 13-year-old immigrant from Mexico, with his mother and sister.

"His is an immigrant's story," Blagojevich said.

The governor added that Velasco's story reminded him of his father's own experience coming to the United States.

"It is marked by the realization that hard work and dedication are the keys to success," he said.

Velsaco attended St. Roman's grammar school and graduated from Harrison High School on Chicago's near southwest side.

Velasco began his career with the Cook County sheriff's office in 1972 and worked his way up through the ranks.

He began as a correctional officer, and then -- through hard work and skill -- rose through the ranks to become a correctional sergeant in1978 and earn higher promotions: to lieutenant in 1980, captain in 1984, chief in 1985 and then superintendent in 1989.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

In 1994, he was named assistant executive director for programs and special units.

Finally, in 1996, Velasco was named director of the Cook County Jail. There, he oversaw a staff of 3,000 and an inmate population of more than 11,000.

Velasco was the first Latino to be appointed to that position and the first-ever employee of the county's corrections department to rise through the ranks to the position of director.

During his tenure at the jail, the facility received exemplary ratings. The American Correctional Association gave the jail a 98 percent score on non-mandatory standards -- and a perfect 100 percent on mandatory ratings. It is one of the largest county facilities in the country to receive such accreditation.

There, he supported the county jail's "Life Learning" program -- an innovative approach that offered job skills, assistance with emotional and personal problems, reading and writing skills to detainees.

While working for the county, Velasco continued to take several courses to enhance his management skills. He attended classes at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, through the U.S. Department of Justice and John Marshall Law School.

He and his wife, Sandra, are the proud parents of two grown daughters.

Sandra and Velasco's mother, Maria Elena, were scheduled to join him at the press conference announcing his appointment.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]


Articles from the past week

Wednesday:

  • State looking at reopening part of LDC

  • Former LDC employees may have new hope

Tuesday:

  • City officials optimistic about grant possibilities

  • Junior high won't be built at Adams School site

Monday:

  • Strong winds expected (posted Monday afternoon)

  • Two arrested in Bobb murder

  • Lincoln youth dies at hospital

  • President Bush orders flags flown at half-staff

Saturday:

  • NASA statement on loss of communications with Columbia

  • Will Andy Applesauce wake up on Groundhog Day?

  • Ameren prepared to merge with CILCO

  • Department of Commerce and Community Affairs ship renamed, on a new course and under a new captain

Friday:

  • Home invasion results in charges against three local men  (Law & Courts)

  • CWD cases stand at seven in Illinois
    (Out and About)

  • State scientists tackle CWD and other prion diseases  (Rural Review)

Thursday:

  • More of Ryan administration's last-minute term appointees eliminated

  • Blagojevich appoints additional department leaders
    Appointees given task of streamlining, reforming state agencies

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