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Audit: Sex offenders in day care homes

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Illinois

* The biggest problem with state Sen. Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign is Bill Brady, as his embarrassing and logically challenged flip-flop on the minimum wage showed yesterday.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s biggest campaign problem is the government. Whether it’s the budget deficit, early release of prisoners, or whatever, Quinn has a huge albatross around his neck. This story won’t help…

The state of Illinois helped pay for day care services in homes where sex offenders live, the auditor general reported Tuesday.

Auditors found 90 cases in which day care providers paid by the Department of Human Services had the same address as someone on the statewide sex-offender registry. The total number might be even higher because the audit only counted cases where addresses matched exactly, down to whether street names were spelled out or abbreviated.

In one case, the person who was paid to care for children was actually on the offender registry. The provider had a conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault but received two payments totaling $187.69, according to the report by Auditor General William Holland.

The Department of Human Services was only recently given authority to check the backgrounds of the people it pays to provide child care, said spokesman Tom Green.

But Holland said he was unaware of any previous prohibition and was flabbergasted it never had been done.

What a freaking mess that is. The new law required that DHS check the backgrounds, but Holland’s position is apparently that nothing stopped the department from checking those backgrounds before. The audit is here.

* Related…

* State shouldn’t contribute to 401(k)s, Brady says - Candidate for governor retreats on lowering minimum wage: Brady explained his unpopular votes on some bills by saying he looks at issues like a businessman: Why did he vote against state mandates that insurance plans cover pap smears, mammograms and contraceptives? Because he votes against all mandates which he says raise the cost of health insurance.

* Brady Does About-Face On Minimum Wage Stance

* Quinn, Brady clash on minimum wage

* Quinn, Brady spar as minimum wage climbs to $8.25

* Brady says governor’s race won’t be as expensive as Blagojevich’s 2006 run

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 11:35 am

Comments

“The biggest problem with state Sen. Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign is Bill Brady, as his embarrassing and logically challenged flip-flop on the minimum wage showed yesterday.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s biggest campaign problem is the government. Whether it’s the budget deficit, early release of prisoners, or whatever, Quinn has a huge albatross around his neck. This story won’t help…”

Is it not also fair to say that Pat Quinn’s problem is one of leadership (or lack thereof) or his inability to form a consensus between Democrats (and MJM) and the Republicans?

Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 11:49 am
An even sillier statement is that minimum wage workers should get a raise every year. Has no one called Pat Quinn to task on this until I, the great Wumpus?

This is more economic suicide. Many middle class workers don’t even have this perk. A lot of union workers are conceding this in their contract, but Pat “Finger in the WInd” Quinn wants this automatic perk? How silly

Comment by Wumpus Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 11:54 am
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jun 23, 10 @ 2:13 pm:

Quinn Urges Released Felons To Work At Dairy Queen - - - UPDATE: 6/30/2010 - -

Governor Quinn today renewed calls that those given Early Release by his administration, consider working at local Dairy Queen restaurants, and also recommended the ice cream chain, for sex offenders who appeared to have been receiving taxpayer dollars to work in day care homes.

“I simply cannot overstate the importance of working with frozen dairy products in the rehabilitation of criminals across the Land of Lincoln, or wherever they are”, the Governor said, “today I add the names of sex offenders who were uncovered during the recent state audit as receiving our tax dollars as day care home providers. Help me, help you!”

A Dairy Queen spokesperson refused to comment after last week’s surprising suggestion, and today the chain issued a statement,

We, at Dairy Queen, have historically employed the finest teens and young adults, retirees as well as veteran Americans at our family stores. While we may have occassionally employed someone who may have had a felony record, a missing finger, or a bad case of acne, every Dairy Queen manager attempts to keep our stores clean, fun and profitable.

We do not endorse Governor Quinn’s suggestion. However, we understand that Oberweis Dairy has openings for those Quinn recommends working within the frozen confectionary industry. As long as you are not an illegal immigrant, Oberweis, to our understanding, is willing to hire anyone willing to work at “minimum wage”, or as they officially call it, “indentured wage”.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 11:58 am
i dont see the “scandal” in this audit. So we are paying for home day care for a home that has a sex offender living in it? Are we going to penalize the child or mother because their dad, uncle or cousin made a mistake? And with all the restrictions sex offenders have to live under i have no doubt that living arrangements are out of their control.

By the way the report needs to tell us what kind of sex offenders? If its a child sex offender its one thing, if its a 19 year old that had sex with a 17 year old its another. This story paints them the same.

Not good but not a scandal.

Comment by not sure Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:11 pm
This sex offender scandal makes great headlines, but it bears further scrutiny before it gets blown out of proportion. There are so many people on the registry for so many crimes that the registry itself is meaningless as a tool to gauge risk. So, it really depends on the individual situations, which were not reported. It did report that for many such places, this involved the daycare of their own children, and after being notified about the sex offender status of the residence, only one family changed providers. That tells you something. These could be family networks of daycare.

Comment by frustrated with press Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:13 pm
In my experience with the public registry is that the information contained in it isn’t always current or accurate. I would be interested in reading the full report from the auditor. Can they confirm that at the time that children were in the home that the sex offender was also living there? Perhaps he was in prison or jail at the time? It can take weeks or months before any changes that are entered by law enforcement are reflected on the sex offender registry. Getting the timelines right would help us to know the accuracy of the report. But let’s say that the information is accurate from this audit. Are we to assume that the registry failed all of these communities and that parents aren’t using it? We have to be careful reading stories like this out of context.

Comment by DJChitown Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:15 pm
What’s the story on the cost of the Brady plan?
Yesterday a poster claimed that the 6.2% due employees if they were under SS would be more than is currently paid.
Is that accurate? Is the Brady plan, when the employees join SS, actually going to cost more?

Comment by Skeeter Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:18 pm
Wow, nice spin… Not Sure and Frustrated….

I am fairly confident you don’t get paid by the state for watching your own kid(s)…

As for the “gauge of risk” so my neighbor who has a aggravated because the age difference was more than 10 years and was bad enough he spent some time in jail. Since his victim was in her middle teens, you would be cool with him watching an 11 year old.

How about if they were just violent felons, would you be cool with that?

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:19 pm
“Because he votes against all mandates which he says raise the cost of health insurance.”

Doesn’t this sum up the value system of Bill Brady? Where in the balance are the values for human life?

Brady is not just a conservative Republican but a stupid. And he is only clean on the surface as his self serving votes in the legislature reveal.

200 votes … and we might have had a better choice. We really suck at this democracy stuff.

Comment by Vole Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 12:20 pm
I am so tired of hearing about sex offender “scandals” that are not scandals at all. These payments may have been totally legitimate compensation for services by family members of offenders whose crimes had nothing to do with children at all. And if a few mistakes were made by a state bureaucracy that oversees thousands and thousands of cases — and if those mistakes are caught in an audit — then where is the scandal?

And while I am at it, may we also get a reprieve from all these “early release” scandals which are also not scandals? These are lawful reductions of sentences for good time, necessary to save money and encourage good behavior in prison and out. Maybe when the campaign is over, we can turn to real Illinois scandals, like the overbuilding of rural roads at the expense of urban mass transit, and the de-funding of schools so that big corporations can get tax breaks they don’t need or deserve!

Comment by bartelby Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 1:16 pm
Are we sure it’s too late to burn our state government to the ground and try to collect on the insurance money?

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 1:18 pm
bartelby, the scandal is DHS waited until they were forced by law to look at backgrounds of people living in childcare homes.

And your early release comment is also bogus. If the early release program was so great, why was it kept a secret from the governor himself?

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 1:21 pm
A few more stories like this and Brady could have the election all sewn up if he hits hard on it.

And it isn’t hard to figure out that a registered sex offender lives there… I’m pretty sure you can just go to the State Police website and look it up. And you don’t need “authority” to use that public service as it was, you know, set up explicitly to have that information easily accessible to the government.

Comment by John Bambenek Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 1:25 pm
=So we are paying for home day care for a home that has a sex offender living in it? Are we going to penalize the child or mother because their dad, uncle or cousin made a mistake?=

O.M.G.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 1:58 pm
===Are we going to penalize the child or mother because their dad, uncle or cousin made a mistake?====

I’m kinda wondering whether I should report you.

Just sayin…

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:01 pm
“The biggest problem with state Sen. Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign is Bill Brady,”

Truer words were never spoken.

Again, good going downstate Republican voters. Enjoy what your dislike of all things Chicagoland got us.

Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:01 pm
to one man.

I didnt say i was “cool” with any of this. I just questioned whether this was a scandal. You have to admit that the numbers put out in the article can be and probably are misleading. And yes you can get paid by the state for watching you own kid, along with others. Its actually pretty common.

Comment by not sure Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:09 pm
===along with others===

That’s the problem here.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:11 pm
Yup.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:31 pm
This is what a logical, sane government and political watcher calls “gross mismanagement”. How did the top-level staff at DHS not catch this? Or did they know?

In terms of this audit, the main problem for the Quinn Administration, especially when this audit is coupled with the MGT Push initiative, is not the “devil in the details” but rather the perception voters will have of Quinn when Brady (assumingly) ratchets up his fundraising and starts blasting Chicago-area media markets with ads about how Pat Quinn released violent offenders and pays “sexual deviants” to babysit kids. The ads and mailers really write themselves.

MrJM, your post reminds me of The Onion article detailing Dubya’s attempts to refinance America’s debt through a consolidation counseling service.

Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 2:38 pm
(the following is snark, of course)
Okay, NotSure and Frustrated, it’s really not an issue. As a matter of fact, maybe placing children in homes with registered sex offenders has the potential to give offenders a new confidence that society has accepted their rehabilitation and is willing to give them a second chance.

Maybe Quinn could use this as a positive TV spot since only the naysayers seem to think there’s anything controversial about it.
(end snark)

As for Brady’s mistakes. I’m sure the minute the pet euthanasia spot goes up, Brady’s people will be coming back with: “Quinn’s worried about animals while he can’t find paroled violent criminals and is putting kids in homes with registered sex offenders. Priorities?”

Brady may be his own worst enemy, but Quinn and his management team have become Brady’s greatest allies.

Then again, I think this sex offender story is bad, bad, bad for Quinn; but I may be misreading it all.

Comment by Misreading Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 3:34 pm
Heads up “Not Sure”. It isn’t illegal for a 19 year old to have sex with a 17 year old. 17 is the legal age of consent in Illinois. When are we going to get past this fairy tale that any significant number of convicted sex offenders are “Romeo and Juliet”. Most convicted child sex offenders are people who abused young children. Usually those children were members of the offenders own family or at least they were close friends. That’s what makes the whole registration system a bit of a fraud. It isn’t the guy down the street you have to protect your kids from. It’s Dad or Uncle Bob or Grandma’s sweet new Gentleman Friend.

Comment by girllawyer Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 3:41 pm
=Brady may be his own worst enemy, but Quinn and his management team have become Brady’s greatest allies.=

Interestingly enough, that statement (and a even a variation thereof) can apply to several campaigns this time around. Too bad those who need to see that, can’t.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 3:52 pm
As to DHS, there are two views of government. They were on display at an SIU board meeting in the 70s. The Board was discussing a retroactive pay increase for facility and staff. A Board member asked the Legal Counsel if he would look and see if the law permitted it. He responded, “No, I will look and see if anything prevents it.”

I guess DHS was operating on the small government side of the equation. But then, pay was not involved.

Comment by BigTwich Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 3:54 pm
oh, and Rich, about “early release scandal”: nobody was released “early”- they were all released based on laws duly passed by legislators — including Brady –permitting various kinds of good conduct credit. Quinn was merely executing faithfully the laws passed by the legislature. His bad judgement was apologizing for it!

Comment by bartelby Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 4:18 pm
bartelby, you’ve got some twisted logic there. MGT Push was a secret program kept from even the governor.

You need to take a rest.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 4:21 pm
=
That’s the problem here.
=

On a personal note:

Last night, I prayed that God would take care of my neighbor, Betty, who has cancer; that’s He’d take care of a friend of mine with good intentions; and that, if he had time, he’d help me to cry again.

Today, I know for sure that he heard my last prayer, at least.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 5:13 pm
I’m sorry for all the typos. They were unintentional.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 5:16 pm
I know.

I need a “time out”.

Thank you, Rich.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 5:18 pm
Could we train these illustrious state workers to enter addresses per US Postal Service regs? It’s offered for free on their website, takes about two seconds each, and would make comparing databases much more reliable and, I’m guessing, easier.
I cannot believe some people are defending known sex offenders living in the same quarters as someone who is watching other children. Shameless.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 5:42 pm
Man, Quinn just continues to look stupid.

Comment by Park Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 8:02 pm
Quinn is like Jimmy Carter- well meaning, but ineffectual and a poor leader; he just doesn’t get it–he’s tone-deaf and woefully out of touch. He’s a typical goo-goo liberal still stuck in the 1960s and 1970s liberal political thinking.

Brady is like George W. Bush- kinda goofy (If he was more like george H. Bush, I’d feel a whole lot more comfortable with him).

Neither Quinn nor Brady really have what it takes to lead Illinois. But, Brady as other have pointed out is his own worst enemy. If he surrounds himself with smart people, he should be a fairly competent governor. The worst thing he could do is pick “yes-men” types. He needs to pick people who truly want him to do well and won’t be afraid to tell him when he is veering off course. And he will need to be man enough to appreciate the people on his team who are honest with him. The democrats i.e. Mike Madigan and John Cullerton are going to kick him around once he becomes governor. They will shoot down and criticize nearly everything that he tries to do, in an effort to make him look weak and ineffectual. This is why it will be critical for him to surround himself with the best people he possibly can. If he doesn’t Illinois is even more trouble for a very long time to come (e.g., 20
years or more)

Quinn has had two years to put together a good administration and get something good going, and hasn’t. He can’t blame anyone but himself for that. His make-it-up-as-yo-go, wing it, play-it-by-ear style is totally frustrating and painful to watch and try to live through. It’s downright obscene how he has muddled his way through governing this state. Quinn enjoys a democratic controlled house and senate, and still could not convince his own party to back his budget, (same as last year). If he can’t convince his own, why should any member of the opposition rally to support him? That makes no sense whatsoever politically speaking.

Brady is a bit of a rough diamond. His success or failure as governor will be the result of the people he surrounds himself with. He’d better make sure that they are loyal to him and in it to make him look good. I’m not sure what to make of the people he has around his so far. On the one hand is still too loose of a cannon and the media are setting traps for him every chance they get i.e.., getting him to comment on the minimum wage issue. To his credit he tried to finesse his position, but the Chicago media weren’t having any of that. His handlers have not yet taught him how to handle himself in front of the Chicago media, and the Chicago media know this.

If it he had simply said…”Given the current economic climate for people and businesses in Illinois, I’ll need to study that issue a bit more before I reach a firm conclusion; I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

He would have been fine. True he’s courting middle -upper class voters, but he can’t afford to take anything for granted, and the perception that he is insensitive might come back to haunt/hurt him in what is likely to be a very low voter turn out gubernatorial race. Bill, you simply have to do better when fielding questions from the Chicago “gotcha” media types.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 30, 10 @ 9:11 pm
Dr. Phil ; my name is Mark Perk( I am in your viewer comments somewhere for our story) i saw your show on march 17, 2010 about the horrendous case of a small child raped by someone who was on the sex offender registry and the extensive damage he inflicted on the family and the whole tragic issue of sexual predators.

I am on the sex offender registry for having a consensual relationship with my now wife, in 1998.We now have two beautiful children.There is an answer to the question “,why cant the police watch these guys and prevent future horrors.”?
The answer is not what people want to hear as this subject is driven by hysteria and knee jerk legislation to appease a roman colliseum, mob type mentality.

There are thousands and thousands of consensual,statutory cases on the sex offender registry in each state,Plus juvenille cases(19 year olds with 15 year olds) ,public nudity,exposure,prostitution,indecent behavior,public peeing etc.

There simply are not enough police to monitor all these cases. Because the states wont interject rick assessment hearings, all sex offender registrants are lumped together and there simply isnt enough police power to monitor all registrants,nor should they.!!!!!!!!
I have been on television numerous times on this subject. I know what i did is socially taboo and illegal, yet i am not a threat to children or women.To put me next to a child rapist on this list, is like putting a casual marijuanna smoker ,caught with a bag, in the same arena s a meth lab gangster!!!!!!!.

List of police time waisted on my case:
:ive been on this list for 11 plus years,ive had 100 plus probation appointments,40 plus home checks,done over 17 police station check ins,police monitoring our home frequently,pulled over (with my wife,both of us in cuffs)11 plus times etc.Stickers on our home on Halloween,lost 6 jobs,various acts of vigilantism etc.

We have had DCFS called on us 3 times by an anonynous neighbor because im on the list and have had numerous threatening calls to our home. Addittionally we have had to call the Crestwood Police and bother them numerous times because of suspicious cars in front of our home, snapping pictures,gawking etc.All this police time for one consensual case ,AND WE ARE MARRIED .!!!!
( We were married by the same judge who gave me the original misdimeanor,who did not consider me a threat!!! He later helped seal our case to “protect this family and the children” )

If the public is wondering why law enforcement cant even stop violent registered offenders from re-offending,the answer is that these predators are like a pin hiding in a haystack.The haystack is thousands of non violent cases like mine, that would be removed immediately if risk assessment was employed.

No media figure has the courage to tell it straight: time to weed out the predators from the registrants who simply broke the law. Then the police can triple their time up on monitoring violent offenders.( Its not the police who make these laws its the congressional and Governor wannabes,who want to appear to look “tough on crime.”,yet have no clue of the ramifications of their legilation on families nor care.)

Its always the same pattern, the media likes to cry wolf,get the public excited (for sensationalism)and then the lawmakers legislate an already blotted system ,while the real predators know this and use it in their hunting techniques as camoflague.
my name is Mark Perk, l Google in” Lets seperate the Misguided from the monsters” Eric Zorn ,Chicago tribune. This is our story.

our daughter is 4 years old,ironically I am as scared as anyone of true sexual predators. The story of any young child raped is heart breaking ,frightening yet tragically will happen time and time again. No one has the courage to seperate the wheat from the chaff.or the “misguided from the monsters”. Mark and Krissy Perk

Comment by ks Tuesday, Jul 13, 10 @ 7:51 pm