Agencies prepare to close
CHICAGO – Social service providers across Illinois have warned for months that unless the state started paying its bills, the day would come when agencies would be forced to lay off workers en masse, or worse, close their doors for good. As 2009 ends, that day has come – or is fast approaching – for countless programs that rely on state money.
The problem is affecting all kinds of service providers, from groups that serve meals to the homeless or elderly, to drug and alcohol counseling and prevention, to child and adult day care. The number of closures is hard to come by, but most providers know at least one agency that’s preparing to shut down by the end of the year.
“They’re going to be falling like dominoes very soon,” said Don Moss, coordinator of the Illinois Human Services Coalition.
For years, state government has been spending more money than it takes in. To cover the shortfall, it has paid bills more and more slowly. That means the local agencies it hires to provide social services don’t get the money they need to pay their own bills – payroll, rent, electricity and more.
Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed taking out a $500 million short-term loan so the state could at least pay a portion of what it owes to the providers. But he and Comptroller Dan Hynes, his opponent in the Democratic primary election, have not been able to agree on the details of a borrowing plan.
Quinn said this week that help from the federal government was on its way but wouldn’t come until early January.
“The money is coming,” Quinn said. “That’s the irony of the whole situation.”
Illinois is millions of dollars behind in making payments, and many groups haven’t been paid by the state since the fiscal year began in July, a situation that longtime providers said is unprecedented. They’ve gotten used to building their annual budgets around state funding and have been blindsided by the delays.
The Education Service Network in north-central Illinois has shuttered all but one of its half-dozen programs, said Paul Nordstrom, regional superintendent of schools for Grundy and Kendall counties.
That program, an alternative high school, was saved by an emergency $200,000 grant secured by an area legislator. Gone are the network’s programs for early childhood education, after-school care, truancy, and drug and alcohol prevention that served hundreds of students across three counties.
Nordstrom estimates that less than six months into the fiscal year, the state owes almost $600,000 for services that the agency – a joint venture of his office and Will County regional public schools – has already provided.
“At some point it’s just not responsible to continue if the money’s not coming in,” Nordstrom said, comparing his situation to a “storekeeper who runs the store for five and half months and nobody’s paid him – but they’ve already taken the products home.”
In western Illinois, Great River Recovery Resources is owed more than $370,000 and has already shut down its adolescent addiction treatment program, said Ron Howell, the agency’s executive director. If the situation continues much longer, the entire agency faces the possibility of closing, he said.
For some agencies, providing doomsday scenarios has helped shake loose at least some of the money they’re owed. Carol Acord, an adult day care provider in Champaign, got her July and August payments from the state this month after sending hardship letters to the state comptroller’s office.
“This is just for two months,” said Acord, co-owner of Circle of Friends Adult Day Care. “There is no guarantee that we will get paid again for another 6 months.”
