The consequences of cuts
Friday, Mar 6, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has a story today about Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed elimination of DCFS responsibility for 2,400 state wards over the age of 18…
The state became Annie Audenas’ substitute parent in the mid-1990s after Illinois child welfare officials said they found evidence of neglect in her family and placed the infant in protective custody.
Audenas was adopted by age 3 but the arrangement soured during her rebellious teen years and she returned to state care. She attended five high schools and became a mother, all by the age of 16.
Despite the odds, Audenas is now a 20-year-old college student working toward a degree in human resource management while raising her daughter in Naperville and holding down a part-time job. She credits Illinois’ long-standing practice of supporting older foster youth for a few extra years beyond age 18 with helping her to succeed.
But, under proposed cuts to the Department of Children and Family Services, thousands of older state wards for whom Illinois failed to find permanent homes before they aged out of foster care will be forced to fend for themselves. […]
But service providers, juvenile court officials and other advocates say the governor’s plan would require statutory changes to state laws that recognize the rights of wards up to 21. And watchdog groups who monitor DCFS’s foster care services under legal consent decrees vowed to go back to court if the aging out population isn’t protected.
Illinois pioneered this program and about half of all states now do the same. Go read the whole thing.
* We’ll close this with a quote from acting DCFS Director George Sheldon…
“It’s hard to take issue with the governor’s decision on the budget when there are no good places to cut, particularly when you’re dealing with the kids we serve,” he said.
No good places to cut? Really? And all along I thought Rauner believed “Waste, fraud and abuse are endemic throughout the state.” Turns out, not so much, unless you consider this program to be “waste.”
- corvax - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:38 am:
especially poignant next to republican apologist Kass’s lecture today that a civil society must take care of folks like the fellow who robbed the bank to get somewhere to sleep and a meal. irrational wealth concentration is a much bigger problem than govt waste. let ‘em all starve.
- walker - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:41 am:
More lawsuits in sight?
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:41 am:
Many more stories like this yet to come.
But yeah, let’s keep talking about new taxes and revenue sources to fund new capital bills instead of programs like this. Infrastructure needs attention, but sheesh.
- AC - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:43 am:
All this compared to a small increase in take home pay. How are we better off with the tax decrease?
- commenter - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:46 am:
Nice little cherry picked story. None the less Human Services majors are pretty easy and are pretty much unemployable these days. Cut the program. Illinois can not afford it nor should it try to
- MrJM - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:47 am:
Bruce Rauner’s budget doesn’t just consider that successful, model program as waste, it considers the youngsters served by that program as waste.
– MrJM
- Stones - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:47 am:
It’s only pork if the bridge or road isn’t in your district.
- Pelonski - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:49 am:
When it comes down to it, there are more good programs than there is revenue to fund them. The choice is either to cut some of these good programs or to increase revenue. Unfortunately, saying that all our funding problems can be fixed by eliminating “waste” can get you elected, and there is no remedy which allows us to sue politicians for false advertising.
- veritas - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:50 am:
Reality - social services has no one with $$ to advocate for them. No advocate with deep pockets = you get cut first. That’s the Rauner way and the Republican way in general.
- MrJM - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:51 am:
“None the less Human Services majors are pretty easy and are pretty much unemployable these days.”
Please advise as to what career path you have chosen — perhaps struggling young people would like to pursue a profession that doesn’t require either 1) basic reading comprehension or 2) an elementary understanding of grammar.
– MrJM
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:51 am:
==How are we better off with the tax decrease==
Remember, the 3.75% tax is still a permanent increase over the 3.00% people were paying before the 2011 hike.
3.75% may not be enough, but it is an increase and leaves the state with more revenue than if the entire increase reverted to the prior level.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:53 am:
Such a bad idea.
After two years of big talk on the campaign trail, Rauner identified $200 million in alleged “operational efficiencies” in his phony baloney budget proposal.
That’s .6 of one percent in proposed GRF spending.Not so much “waste, fraud and abuse.”
- Shore - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:53 am:
we want pre-k funded, we want longer school days, we want more music and arts in school, we want more $ for higher education, we more $ for research for phd candidates, we want more $ for k-12.
At some point we have to say somewhere the government can’t do it all for everyone.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:54 am:
===No good places to cut? Really? And all along I thought Rauner believed “Waste, fraud and abuse are endemic throughout the state.” Turns out, not so much, unless you consider this program to be “waste.”===
Rauner’s “Response”?
“We always expected social services to fight to keep their stranglehold over Illinois taxpayers in place. These programs are a critical cog that is crushing taxpayers, and the social services will do anything to keep the broken status quo.”
Thought I’d save some time…
- Challengerrt - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:56 am:
How sad cut programs like these but continue to provide corporate welfare. Goes to show you all the money in the world does not make you a humanitarian.
- Pelonski - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:56 am:
Speaking of “waste”, has the governor done anything to address that, yet? I haven’t heard of any plans to systematically review how the state agencies operate. He said he was going to bring in outside experts to look at how government could be operated more efficiently. About the only time I hear the Governor talk about eliminating “waste” is when referring to union employees. If that’s all we are going to get, it’s going to be a big disappointment.
- jerry 101 - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 10:59 am:
I’m surprised Bruce hasn’t suggested just shuttering DHS and DCFS. In his and Ms. Arduin’s worldview, all the programs adminsitered by those agencies are ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’.
Get a job, indeed.
- Gooner - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:00 am:
Historically in Illinois “pork” has been defined as “spending outside my district.”
Now with Rauner, who clouted his kid into a great public school, “pork” is “spending outside my own family.”
- Huh? - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:00 am:
So this is a program that Illinois pioneered. Half the other states have followed our lead to adopt similar programs To support kids who age out of foster care.
So following the previous stated logic of the time watch, cutting the program puts us in line with the other states that do not support teens who age out of foster care.
Good place to be.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:01 am:
Did I read this right ? The women is 20 years old and still a ward of the state ? I think Illinois taxpayer have done their share. I was working and supporting myself at 14. Where does the victim mentality stop ?
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:01 am:
Wast, fraud, abuse . . . waste, fraud, abuse that’s what we are going to hear for months. Ms. Arduin is here to make the case no money for these programs is good.
- Pelonski - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:02 am:
Willy,
You forgot to include the phrase “corrupt bargain” in your response. You left 25 Buzzword Bingo points on the table.
- south side - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:03 am:
If the newspaper stories these past years have been accurate about all the fraud at DCFS, maybe Rauner isn’t too far off. Perhaps DCFS can start paying attention to contracts and deliverables. The corruption and waste at this agency has been shameful.
- Meanderthal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:03 am:
I’d like to see a post titled “The Consequences of No Cuts”.
- Muscular - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:04 am:
Bruce Rauner has always said that he passionately believes, like many conservatives, in individual liberty and personal responsibility. With this policy change, governor rauner can fully exercise his beliefs while reducing the size and reach of state government in the lives of residents. When the children become adults at age 18, they become responsible for themselves and enjoy the freedom from the restrictions and impositions of state government.
- Dr X - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:06 am:
keep on rockin’ in the free world…..
- Jack Stephens - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:06 am:
Thank you Gooner! Couldn’t have said it much better.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:06 am:
- Pelonski -,
Don’t worry, the Rauner Administration will include it when it goes out for real…
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:07 am:
“None the less Human Services majors are pretty easy and are pretty much unemployable these days.”
One might consider that even if the subject of the article is pursuing a degree that you would not choose, their life is still better off than it would have been without the state support.
- downstate commissioner - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:08 am:
All for helping kids, but have to agree with anon@11:01….
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:11 am:
“Where does the victim mentality stop ?”
It stops somewhere past the guy complaining about “Illinois tax payers doing enough”.
- Langhorne - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:13 am:
Rauner does not see programs or people. He only sees costs. Costs are easy to cut that way.
It’s the FY 15 budget, stupid. How many days to an agreement?
- MrJM - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:14 am:
“I was working and supporting myself at 14.”
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” — Marcello Truzzi (1935–2003)
– MrJM
- Pelonski - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:15 am:
Human Resource Management is not a “Human Services” major. It is a business degree with an average job growth outlook, and according to the BLS, a median income of around $100,000 per year.
- jogger - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:17 am:
What exactly is DCFS doing to help Ms. Audenas? Her tuition is likely covered by Pell and MAP Grants. Most colleges have programs that help mentor first generation college students. She probably receives SNAP and perhaps WIC. She would receive that assistance if DCFS assistance is cut off at 18. What exactly would she be losing?
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:19 am:
Pelonski, arguing over the merits of a HRM degree is besides the point. Do not believe for a minute that anyone would change their mind on these cuts if the subject of the article was pursuing a chemical engineering degree.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:22 am:
===Where does the victim mentality stop?===
Not with you apparently.
- Downtstate Dem - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:26 am:
I had a foster child who took advantage of this program. He used it to help with housing and food until he was 19. The program required visits from the case worker and help with budget management, bill paying, etc. He left the program to go to Afghanistan. After one year there, he returned and went to school to become a lineman. He is now employed full time and makes a very good living as a union apprentice lineman. He tells me the program was beneficial and very helpful to him. I know this is one single story but I bet there are many others out there who could tell similar stories. Sometimes a little help up front can make a huge difference for these kids. Are there abuses? I am sure there are. Every program has that problem. But rather than cut it completely lets tighten up the requirements and help some of these kids become successful citizens.
- Norseman - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:26 am:
=== “Waste, fraud and abuse are endemic throughout the state.” ===
An intellectually lazy phrase used to provide political cover for imposing arbitrary cuts.
I hope that the many youths affected by this budget decision will somehow make it. After all, their sacrifice will help cover the Governor’s expenses like a contract for a temporary CFO while we have a full-time budget director.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:27 am:
MrJM You might consider working to support yourself at 14 extraordinary. But I found it to be self survival. I worked at Bally MFG on Belmont Ave at age 14. Some people who come from broken homes pick themselves up and become a stronger person. I never asked or took a handout from anyone.
- CLJ - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:32 am:
=What exactly is DCFS doing to help Ms. Audenas?=
Read the whole article. “Too old for a child welfare system, but often unprepared to live independently, DCFS offers older foster youth who remain in the state’s care extra financial help for housing, counseling, employment, education and other life-skills services. The state pays nonprofit agencies such as UCAN and Kaleidoscope, both in Chicago, to prepare the aging out population for independence.”
It’s nice to have a helping hand when you have no parents or family to stand with you as you figure out adulthood. If anyone figured it out completely on your own without any guidance or advice then you are an amazing individual that should be applauded.
- MrJM - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:32 am:
“Some people who come from broken homes pick themselves up and become a stronger person.”
My grandfather hit the road at 14 during the Depression. He picked himself up and not only became stronger, he also became caring.
– MrJM
- Juvenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:33 am:
The governor is faced with a real Sophie’s Choice:
1. Cut funding for abused and neglected kids by 20%, or
2. Close corporate tax loopholes.
- Illinoisvoter - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:38 am:
Thank you Mr. Miller once again for linking to the
source article and giving it context. The Tribune
says 167 million is the proposed cut from DCFS.
How much does this program cost? The Tribune doesn’t say. Is DCFS tracking the kids outside
the program to measure outcome?
- GraduatedCollegeStudent - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:41 am:
===MrJM You might consider working to support yourself at 14 extraordinary. But I found it to be self survival. I worked at Bally MFG on Belmont Ave at age 14. Some people who come from broken homes pick themselves up and become a stronger person. I never asked or took a handout from anyone. ===
And how old are you now? Tales of self-sufficiency at age 14 have little relevance when they happened 30-40 years ago.
- Juvenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:43 am:
== I think Illinois taxpayer have done their share. ==
Anonymous -
We were her legal parent. Did we save for her college like we were supposed to? Um, no we did not.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:46 am:
Great article. I didn’t know about this program before today. As far as cost, the article states that the program more than pays for itself, and cuts would be short lived due to other costs like incarceration.
I absolutely do not mind paying a higher income tax if it will help these youths.
The article states that the cuts would be illegal, and they would sue–more lawsuits against Rauner.
- Levi - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:51 am:
“Waste” = “programs for poor people.” They’re society’s castaways; no reason the good people of the State of Illinois should go broke helping skanks and indigents.
- Wordslinger - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 11:53 am:
– … he passionately believes, like many conservatives, in individual liberty and personal responsibility —
Rauner proposed zeroing out those DCEO corporate welfare grants? I missed that.
Silly platitudes with no basis in reality.
By the way, if you want a real laught riot, visit the DCEO home page. It’s chock full of reports on how the Illinois economy is going gangbusters. The measurements are from last year, lol.
- Politix - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:02 pm:
==== “It’s hard to take issue with the governor’s decision on the budget when there are no good places to cut, particularly when you’re dealing with the kids we serve,” he said. ===
Am I reading this right? It’s hard to take issue, particularly when you’re dealing with THESE kids?
- Politix - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:04 pm:
“Compassionate, Competitive”
Lie.
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:05 pm:
“I never asked or took a handout from anyone.”
You have almost certainly done both. Even by the scant narrative you provided, Bally apparently did you one hell of a favor.
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:06 pm:
I mean, right now, you’re implicitly asking the state to cut funds to at-risk kids to keep your taxes low.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:08 pm:
- I worked at Bally MFG on Belmont Ave at age 14. -
I don’t want to belittle your achievement, but was the lesson you learned from this really that this is an ideal scenario for 14 year olds without parents?
- How Ironic - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:18 pm:
@Anon 11:01
” I was working and supporting myself at 14. Where does the victim mentality stop ?”
Well, I was supporting myself, my family, and the neighbors at 13.
Why are you so lazy?
Anecdotal stories are so lazy, and not relevant. For every 14 year old ’supporting themselves’ there are likely 10x that are drowning w/out any assistance.
Your compassion is overwhelming.
- QCLib - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:24 pm:
== Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:08 pm:
I don’t want to belittle your achievement, but was the lesson you learned from this really that this is an ideal scenario for 14 year olds without parents?==
You won the internet today. Best comment here.
- Mad Brown - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:53 pm:
SuperAnon 11:01- I’m guessing you are a male, and that superhuman effort that surpasses those of all others, wouldn’t have had the same ending for a 14-year-old girl.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:57 pm:
The United States is a rich country.
Illinois is a rich state.
We can afford to help these people. Helping rich people is a higher priority.
Bruce Rauner is not a good person. And the people who defend this have holes in their souls.
- dupage dan - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
Nothing preventing the GA from passing the tax increases necessary to fully fund the programs. Pass the bills, override the vetoes. Easy peasy, Madiganesee. Otherwise, certain realities will exist. None of them are pretty - very easy for every single state agency (including mine - hit with a 17% budget cut) to present VERY compelling arguments why NONE of the funding should be cut and, in fact, generous increases are called for or DIRE consequences will result.
The math is simple - the political will is absent.
- Carl Nyberg - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
Didn’t candidate Rauner attack Gov. Quinn for children slipping through the cracks at DCFS?
How can Rauner cut money for DCFS and not make this problem worse?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:04 pm:
===Nothing preventing the GA from passing the tax increases necessary to fully fund the programs. Pass the bills, override the vetoes. Easy peasy, Madiganesee.===
Nope.
Rauner owns this, why bail him out needlessly.
You don’t use super-majority, veto-proof chambers to instill revenue increases with TWO votes (once to pass, another to override) against the opposite party’s Executive to help with the politics.
You slow play it. You let the Executive either own the bad, or endorse the tough. That’s leveraging majorities opposite of the Executive’s own party.
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:12 pm:
“Nothing preventing the GA from passing the tax increases necessary to fully fund the programs.”
Err, okay, that’s pretty much exactly what everyone here is advocating.
But hey, don’t sleep on the fact that the guy who proposed these cuts and has dominated the budget conversation for two weeks with talking about how necessary they are absolutely OWNS them. I mean, we can once again demonstrate that the Republican Party isn’t the “Party of personal responsibility”, but it ain’t gonna change the 30 second ads in 2016 and 2018.
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:14 pm:
Once again, look at the FY15 budget- it was terrible, and who paid the price for it? The Governor, not the legislators.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:34 pm:
Man bites dog:
The Trib has put up an editorial against a Rauner budget cut:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-lurie-childrens-medicaid-rauner-illinois-budget-tax-edit-0308-jm-20150306-story.html
Though they promise not to make a habit of it.
- Midwest Mom - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:40 pm:
It’s scientific fact that brain development doesn’t truly reach maturity until the early 20s. I don’t have a link for you but you can search/find same. And certainly not all brains develop at the same rate.
We don’t allow young adults
- Midwest Mom - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:47 pm:
(got cut off)
We don’t allow young adults
- Midwest Mom - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:51 pm:
We don’t allow young adults under 21yrs to purchase alcohol or to gamble. Why would we believe an 18yr old capable of sustaining themselves without a support net? On a minimum wage, part-time job?
@Anon, if you worked a manufacturing job at 14yrs, then you worked before the existence of child labor laws and in a very different economic time. You cannot compare your childhood years to today’s economic environment.
- anon - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 1:56 pm:
I didn’t realize that when the Governor promised to make IL the most compassionate state he defined compassion as tough love. Dump these 18-year olds without families on the streets so they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. That will teach them.
- Left Leaner - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 2:03 pm:
One person’s “waste, fraud and abuse” is another person’s “critical program”.
We’re all going to have to hash it out. It’s going to be an ummm…interesting year.
- How Ironic - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 2:08 pm:
@Left Leaner:
“One person’s “waste, fraud and abuse” is another person’s “critical program”.”
Exactly, now I’m going to excuse myself. I’ve got some free motorcycle training classes to get to. Sure glad that Rauner is pumping up the budget for those! Just hope I don’t run over any wayward wards of the state just wandering around.
I mean really…if we can’t fund free motorcycle training classes at a higher rate than last year (and in fact even more than they typically spend the aprop)…what kind of a state are we anyways?
- anon - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 2:08 pm:
== I was supporting myself at age 14. ==
Is the lesson learned that all kids should have to support themselves because you did? Is that the kind of society we have? Something bad happened to me, so I want it to happen to others. In the name of compassion.
- Cassandra - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 2:25 pm:
The admin and the legislature will probably work this out.
Still somebody (the latest DCFS director?) should be concerned that DCFS has not been able to find permanent homes for “thousands” of kids. Are they even trying? At both the federal and state levels, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on permanency initiatives in recent decades, with the goal of finding permanent homes for children in foster care. So why, in Illinois, which currently has a foster care population of about 14,000, are “thousands” eligible for this program.
Sheldon is no doubt another short-term appointee, hired to fix the problems leading to the recent residential treatment scandal, then he’ll be on his way. And we can’t expect much from the ACLU,
the OIG, or any of the other overseeing entities.
They’ve been looking at the numbers for decades.
Perhaps this massive permanency failure needs a good investigative reporter. Something isn’t right.
- Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 3:28 pm:
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times — Bruce Rauner is an asset stripper. Period.
He has no clue of how to build an enterprise — only how to flip one. The trouble with that is you can’t flip state government. We’re stuck with it. We have to manage it for the long term.
- dupage dan - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 3:28 pm:
=== You slow play it. You let the Executive either own the bad, or endorse the tough. That’s leveraging majorities opposite of the Executive’s own party ===
I guess the issues aren’t that important, or the folks being harmed are not really in that much trouble, if you can “slow walk” this process. How long will that take? Probably until the next governor gets sworn in. What do these victims do until then?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 3:39 pm:
===I guess the issues aren’t that important, or the folks being harmed are not really in that much trouble, if you can “slow walk” this process. How long will that take? Probably until the next governor gets sworn in. What do these victims do until then?===
(Sigh)
===I guess the issues aren’t that important, or the folks being harmed are not really in that much trouble, if you can “slow walk” this process.===
The 2015 issues will be addressed, and the Fiscal 2016 funding will again be under different considerations.
I refer you to President Cullerton;
===
“It’s very hard — it’s very complicated because we’re talking about his proposals, cutting a lot of programs,” Cullerton said of the negotiations. “I think maybe the administration thinks that since they’re new, ‘Here’s a proposal, just vote on it.’ We have to get votes for it, and that’s difficult.”===
https://capitolfax.com/2015/03/05/rauner-blasts-outrageous-lack-of-action/
===How long will that take? Probably until the next governor gets sworn in. What do these victims do until then?===
The hyperbole isn’t helping either. It’s going to take as long as the Administration and the Speaker and the President aren’t close to 60 and 30 votes to pass “relief”, if all three can agree on it.
That goes for the immediate 2015, and the Fiscal 2016.
I’m not callous or unfeeling, I can read what President Cullerton said, and along with understanding the process and the politics, it’s really up to those that can work the levers of government, within the politics driving the decisions.
Rauner promised results, but he’s aiding in gridlock.
It’s not my thoughts that are preventing movement.
- Anonymous - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 3:42 pm:
Mad Brown I am female. The job I had was long after child labor laws. Most kids lied about their age to get employment. The article is about a 21 year old women. Maybe that is the problem. Most here consider her a child.
- retired in my mind - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 3:44 pm:
What is the cost of this program compared to a lifetime of Link cards, Section 8 housing, Kidcare, etc? Should I assume that long term costs will be someone else’s problem?
- whetstone - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 4:12 pm:
–Nice little cherry picked story. None the less Human Services majors are pretty easy and are pretty much unemployable these days. Cut the program. Illinois can not afford it nor should it try to–
Look at the Chapin Hall study mentioned in the piece. I’d rather pay for a 19-year-old to go to college than to pay for him to be in prison.
- Arsenal - Friday, Mar 6, 15 @ 5:16 pm:
“Mad Brown I am female. The job I had was long after child labor laws. Most kids lied about their age to get employment. The article is about a 21 year old women. Maybe that is the problem. Most here consider her a child.”
It’s not that anyone considers her a child, it’s that a 21 year old working part time, raising a daughter, and going to school is far preferable to a 14-year-old lying about her age to obtain illegal employment. I want more of the former and less of the latter.