 Maria Whelan, executive
director of Illinois Action for Children, said child care for
150,000 children statewide is at risk."Come the middle of the
month, it's going to be mayhem,'' Whelan said.
Progress Illinois, a Web site supported by the Service Employees
International Union, is trying to track cutbacks at the
organizations that state government uses to deliver services at the
local level. As of July 10, it reported, 68 agencies had cut at
least 1,420 jobs and halted services for nearly 13,500 people.
The people not being served include 165 inmates in county jails
around the state.
The nonprofit organization Treatment Alternatives for Safe
Communities would normally evaluate those prisoners to see whether
they could be sent to drug and alcohol treatment instead of jail.
But because TASC has required two-week furloughs for many employees,
no one can review those prisoners, leaving them sitting in jail at
taxpayer expense, the organization said.
"It's clogging the system,'' said Daphne Baille, a TASC
spokeswoman.
Lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday to try to come up with
a budget. Illinois faces a budget deficit of roughly $11.6 billion,
the worst in state history. The battle over whether to raise taxes
or slash spending has dragged on past the start of Illinois' new
fiscal year on July 1, leaving local services agencies in limbo.
Gov. Pat Quinn supports a combination of spending cuts and higher
taxes. He vetoed a budget that legislators sent him that slashed
spending by billions of dollars, much of it state grants to local
service providers.
Quinn hopes lawmakers will agree to a temporary budget that will
stabilize government services at least until November. In the
meantime, his office warns that organizations spending money while
the state lacks a budget "do so at their own risk.'' They might not
get that money back.
Some groups can't afford to take that chance.
Marillac Social Center in Chicago laid off almost one-third of
its 85-member staff and closed programs to prevent teen pregnancy
and substance abuse. "The hard part was that we were already
struggling with the economy and a deficit,'' said Maureen Halligan,
executive director of Marillac.
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Springfield Arc, which helps mentally disabled adults and children,
has laid off 55 employees and notified 300 people that they won't
continue receiving such services as assisted living and job coaches.
Arc says two of its clients have already lost their jobs because of
the cuts in job coaches, who accompany the disabled person and help
them understand the job.
The agency also closed a summer camp four weeks early, leaving
working parents without child care.
The Neumann Association, a Chicago organization that serves the
disabled and mentally ill, also has cut services. The association
says four of its clients have been hospitalized for anxiety over
losing their caretakers.
Even if lawmakers approve a temporary budget, local agencies
would still face uncertainty. Should they spend normally, assuming
that they'll ultimately get full funding? Should they cut back now
in case the permanent budget includes major reductions?
Diana Rauner, executive director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund,
said she knows lawmakers will eventually pass a budget. But in the
meantime, programs that have been built up over years are being cut
and experienced employees are being fired. Even if funds are
returned, she said, serious damage has already been done.
"Essentially, the house is burning and everyone is standing
around looking,'' Rauner said.
[Associated Press;
By CHRISTINA M. WRIGHT]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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