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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]
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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] |
|
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] |
