Contact legislators about budget cuts
Friday July 3, 2009
Our state legislators are really mucking up the system right now, debating where to put what little funds we have. It is frustrating to watch, and even more frustrating to know how much they are playing with people's lives, especially the children of our state. Hundreds of agencies across Illinois recently received notice that the Department of Children and Family Services will not renew their contracts to provide critical services to foster children and intact families who are at risk for foster care.
What does this mean? It means that kids all over the state will not receive critical therapy following domestic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse. If the proposed 50 percent cut in social service funds becomes reality, other critical services such as senior home health care, services for the mentally ill, services to those with developmental disabilities and crisis childcare, along with foster care programs, will end or be drastically reduced. Even though the cuts proposed may "help" the budget, other funding streams, such as the criminal justice system, emergency room care and nursing homes, will be used instead, often at a much greater cost. Further, thousands of people across the state will lose their jobs and so many powerless victims will be hurt.
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