No Calm Before The Storm

Today it became official that nothing is official. After much political jockeying and stonewalling, a joint legislative session has been called for July 14th, where hopefully a fair state budget will be decided upon.

While an extreme optimist may cite Quinn vetoing the 50% budget a victory for social service providers, this is more of a situation in which the cup is three-quarters empty.

No, the lights won't go out in the state of Illinois, but the same cannot be said for the human service providers who are trapped in this budget limbo.

As we pointed out yesterday, the inactivity of this state's government to pass a fair budget has already caused irreparable damage, which will surely continue.

That continuation of damage, only a day into this budget-less fiscal year, did not take long to emerge.

Macon County is facing a harsh reality, where social service agencies such as Dove Incorporated and Macon Resources are forced to make drastic cuts:

In lieu of a state budget, Dove, Inc was forced to layoff a third of its employees and services along with them:

At Dove, the layoffs mean the end of Fresh Start Catering and the job training it has provided to homeless people since February 2008, and the agency's diversity program, a longtime community education initiative that helped organize events such as a panel discussion at the Decatur Civic Center in February exploring disparities in health care.

It also means scaling back the Community Services Program working with neighborhood groups and the domestic violence program,

Macon Resources had to make similar tough decisions:

Gone are the agency's group care for adults and children, sheltered work program for people with developmental disabilities, support that allowed clients to live independently and a self-advocacy program.

"We'll have 136 people who won't get service tomorrow and 14 people who don't have jobs," Lewandowski said Tuesday. "I feel like crap, and I'm angry because this all could have been worked out a long time ago."

At the child advocacy center, the doors will remain open for now, but a children's therapist, case manager and part-time administrative assistant have been notified their last day is Thursday.

In Bloomington, a meeting among social services outlined a situation which is sadly similar:

At the meeting, the following were among the cuts reported:

• The Crisis Nursery for children whose parents are in immediate crisis is reducing its hours.
• Assistance to runaway youth will be reduced.
• Subsidized child care for the working poor is being reduced, meaning many of those parents will need to quit their jobs to stay home with their kids, increasing the unemployment rate.
• Services to help keep older adults in their homes are being slashed, meaning more seniors may have to move into more expensive nursing homes.
• Staff at the GED office will be reduced.
• Counseling for sex abuse victims is being reduced.
• Mental health treatment and counseling for the non-Medicaid population is being reduced.

Chicago is feeling the affects as well:

• Intact Family Recovery - This program offers care and support to substance impacted children and their parents. Parents affected by cutting this program: 133
  Staff laid off: 6

• Urban Systems of Care - This program offers outreach and engagement services to residents of poverty stricken areas of Chicago.
  Parents and children affected by cutting this program: 61
  Staff laid off: 4.5

• Mental Health Juvenile Justice - This program offers support to mentally ill youth as they deal with legal issues in Cook County Courts and with their probation officers
  Youth affected by cutting this program: 60
  Staff laid off: 4

This very well may be only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, the agencies listed above are serving as an all-too-real reminder of how fragile the existence of critical human service organizations really are.

It is hard to even imagine the damage that will be done if a reduced budget is actually passed. As of now we have 14 days to advocate on behalf of organizations in danger.