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A deeper look at a couple of the GOP’s Choate suggestions
Friday, Feb 24, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * During yesterday’s Republican legislator press conference on Choate Developmental Center, they were asked what sort of budgetary commitment the GOP was ready to make. Sen. Terri Bryant responded…
I’ve been through this before with the governor’s office on another topic that I don’t think ended up here or in the subscriber section. As I recalled when listening to that response today, the state doesn’t need x number of posts to fill x number of the same jobs, but I asked again anyway. Jordan Abudayyeh…
* Back to Sen. Bryant…
According to the governor’s office, that vax mandate is now in the union contract. It’s also currently required by the federal government for congregate facilities.
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- Big Dipper - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:04 am:
Someone should tell Tracy and Bryant that the vax mandate is primarily to protect the residents. So the fact that some nutty employees want to take the risk is irrelevant.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:08 am:
Bryant is retired IDOC. She knows good and well 80 jobs are for different titles with varying qualifications…
or, and I don’t discount this, she’s just simple.
- Trap - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:10 am:
Personal insults… nice
- TheInvisibleMan - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:11 am:
–And so that’s hampering a lot of the hiring there.–
This is exactly why the current location is the biggest impediment to any change.
There simply are not enough people in the area who are qualified to work at that location.
Agree or disagree with vaccines, it doesn’t matter. The job has requirements, and the local labor pool is either able to meet them or it isn’t. If it isn’t, then the solution is to move the facility to a location where it can be adequately staffed with qualified employees.
Nobody is forcing anyone in the labor pool to ‘get the shot’. They’ve made their choice. This is the life they want, and this is the life their state reps and leaders advocate for. Since these are all adults, we shouldn’t be wasting any time on explaining how choices have consequences. The state has a responsibility to the residents of the facility first.
- Arsenal - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:12 am:
==And so that’s hampering a lot of the hiring there.==
Is it, though? The majority of the country got vax’d. Now, it’s possible that the subset of people interested in/qualified for these jobs is disproportionately NOT vax’d…but it’s also possible that that they’re disproportionately MORE vax’d. I don’t know which it is, and I’d ask for strict proof on the question.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:16 am:
Trap- make a stupid comment…
- welllllllll - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:16 am:
I’d argue that these people who don’t want to work at Choate because of a vax mandate aren’t going to find healthcare jobs somewhere else. Most healthcare settings have vax mandates.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:18 am:
Trying to appease the conspiracy theory, anti-vax folks isn’t going to make it “better” by measure… because the vaccinated workforce is the reason for so much awful going on.
It’s a ridiculous ask, based on the political angle to an aggrieved base, and not designed for a better facility.
Good try. No.
- vern - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:21 am:
So it sounds like the answer is no to a budgetary commitment. They just a useless tweak to CMS’s hiring procedure and a little dash of legally impossible culture war. Great “governing wing” the GOP has over there.
- Give Me A Break - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:22 am:
“Someone should tell Tracy and Bryant that the vax mandate is primarily to protect the residents”
This all day. So the locals who don’t want to get vaccinated want to work directly with those with Weakened Immune Systems and multiple health issues related to their disability? Got it, some real genius down there.
- Peer - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:30 am:
CHOATE deserves better for the residents and its employees to move forward ASAP. Gov’t needs to quit mandating and COVID is “over” so let it go. Pritzker and his administration need to step it up and help their own people of this State ASAP. Sen Tracy and Sen Bryant KUDOS to stepping up
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:34 am:
=== Gov’t needs to quit mandating and COVID is “over” so let it go. Pritzker and his administration need to step it up and help their own people of this State ASAP. Sen Tracy and Sen Bryant KUDOS to stepping up
===
And that… is why the ask is the ask
It’s to appease the aggrieved.
I mean, lol, nothing happened or will happen, but the “KUDOS” was the desired result.
It’s actually comical how simpleton this is, watching it in real time.
- H-W - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:34 am:
Does Tracy (my rep.) really think hiring people who do not want vaccines is the solution to the cultural issues in Anna? Does she think the people who are unvaccinated are different from those who are?
Anna has a history. It was founded as a slave county in the 1700s. It had slaves when the constitution was signed in 1818. Those slaves became “indentured servants.” Anna may be a woman’s name, but it is also an acronym. Anna has a cultural history that has nothing to do with vaccines.
It is that culture that needs to be addressed. That history of oppression, of minorities and women, includes the oppression of developmentally disabled citizens of Illinois.
It is the culture that must be addressed at Choate, not, vaccines.
It is about cleaning house, and creating a new culture. If 500+ people in a small county share the same employer, I am sure the employer can introduce changes, and anticipate some of those will want to keep their jobs rather than continue to oppress and abuse the least among us.
The governor needs to replace the administrators. AFSCME needs to put its members on notice, and be prepared to fire those demonstrated to have committed evil acts in the past.
As I suggested yesterday, this can be done. I would argue it must, and it must be done now, not “next session.”
In the meantime, relatives need to sue AFSCME and the Center if their relatives have been abused. Sue AFSCME for protecting its members and for not investigating claims of abuse by its membership, and I bet the workplace culture will change.
- JS Mill - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:38 am:
=Sen Tracy and Sen Bryant KUDOS to stepping up
=
Oof. So stepping up means making nonsensical statements?
If “COVID” is over can you please ask it what I has it in December? It wasn’t a big deal, but if I worked at Choate and passed it on to some elderly vet who had other health issues it could have been fatal.
Banned word.
- very old soil - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:45 am:
Peer, Read the last paragraph of Rich’s post–in the union contract and required by the feds>
- Steve Polite - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:45 am:
“Gov’t needs to quit mandating and COVID is “over” so let it go.”
First, COVID isn’t over. People are still in hospitals, in ICU’s, on ventilators and dying. Sure the numbers have gone down, and maybe the pandemic is ending; but, COVID is still circulating and is now or soon will be considered an endemic.
Second, vaccine requirements in health care and residential settings have been around for a long time. I worked in a residential center in the 90’s, and every employee was required to receive annual vaccinations. Having vaccinated caregivers protects those they are caring for.
- Annonin' - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:48 am:
Those clammoring for more hiring at Choate seem to need to switch the abusers and perverts who apply for normal health care workers. Maybe they could work on a “plan” for that
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:48 am:
=== Read the last paragraph of Rich’s post===
The ask served its purpose, they got the “KUDOS”,… mission accomplished.
It’s not about understanding any honesty to an outcome
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 11:51 am:
Anyway that a completely separate community can be built complete with gas station & grocery coop near Choate and incent professionals to work there for a time by forgiving student loans aggressively and offering free housing? And require both shots and non-fraternization with non-special community residents (in order to avoid the non-compliance and cover-up/abusive atmosphere not to spread)?
- Stormsw7706 - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
Choate should be phased out. It is not centrally located, the labor pool is small, and the residents do not seem to be valued. Union County vocally opposed COVID measures reflecting the community. The school district used COVID dollars to try to put in an artificial turf field for goodness sakes before the state stepped in. The community is vocally opposed to state laws with the support of their local officials. I thinks it’s highly unlikely they will follow a largely honor type system to do what’s right. Illinois is a big state. Lots of places to choose from with larger labor pools and a communities that would value the residents of Choate to a much larger degree than is currently shown. Many of the Choate residents are medically fragile and the applicants don’t want to get a shot? Amazing. Close this place please
- Appears - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:20 pm:
Covid may not be as fatal as it once was for the frail or elderly, but it can still leave them in bad shape for the rest of their lives. Covid is not over. We have to live with it. And if it is believed to be best that people who work in congregate settings be vax’ed, then so be it. We work (me included) in these settings not for a paycheck, but for the people. News flash: most who work for the State can be paid more in the private sector. We work here because we want to.
The problem at Choate may be that too many there work for a paycheck…not for the residents who live at Choate.
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:21 pm:
“And so that’s hampering a lot of the hiring there.”
If by that it means hiring those who don’t care about spreading a disease that can be debilitating or deadly to many, that can easily and substantially be reduced by full vaccination, then it’s a good thing.
- Candy Dogood - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:28 pm:
===that vax mandate is now in the union contract===
I’m glad we’ve moved from everything being Bruce Rauner’s fault to everything being the union’s fault.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:32 pm:
Nobody who refuses to get a covid vaccine is going to be a worthwhile hire to work with severely disabled people because nobody that childish and selfish is fit for that kind of job.
- Stormsw7706 - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:39 pm:
Well said Larry Bowa JR. Well said
- Stuck in Celliniland - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
==Nobody who refuses to get a covid vaccine is going to be a worthwhile hire to work with severely disabled people because nobody that childish and selfish is fit for that kind of job.==
Agreed. Not just unfit for Choate and all other state institutions, but also unfit for working in state government in general. That also applies to people who haven’t gotten all the required boosters as well, and also who refuse to get the flu shots every year.
- Lincoln Lad - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 1:36 pm:
The ignorance demonstrated by these two reps makes me sad. Why do we elect people who are either not serious, or are not intelligent enough to be capable?
- Last Bull Moose - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 1:56 pm:
I agree with those who would relocate the facility to a place with a better workforce.
- I Love Decatur - Friday, Feb 24, 23 @ 4:12 pm:
Where would you move it? IDOC is still struggling to find qualified staff in Joliet and that is essentially metro Chicago. The reality is new administration, a states attorney willing to file criminal charges when it is warranted, and improve the climate through accountability. Put AFSCME on notice that the state will do their part getting rid of bad actors and if an arbitrator wants them to return to work, then we will find a new arbitrator. In return the state will pay those AFSCME workers an outstanding wage for a tough job.