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Critical looks at the proposed closing of two state facilities

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* Doug Finke looks at Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to close Jacksonville Developmental Center…

The closure plan hinges on placing residents in community-based settings. Those are the same organizations that many times wait months and months to get paid for delivering services.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if the plan got derailed because those organizations refused to take any more clients for which they won’t get paid on time?

Good point.

* The AP fact checks Quinn’s announcement…

The administration says the Jacksonville and Tinley Park facilities were the first picked for closure because they scored worst in rankings based on objective criteria like physical condition, difficulties in recruiting staff and economic impact on the surrounding communities.

You’ll have to take Quinn’s word for that, however. He won’t release those rankings, so there’s no way to tell how Jacksonville compared to similar facilities in Anna or Chester, or how Tinley Park matched up against other mental hospitals.

The governor is releasing the final scores for the two facilities, but knowing that Jacksonville was rated a 3 on staff recruitment doesn’t allow for comparisons to other institutions. Quinn isn’t releasing any of the data his staff used to calculate the scores, making it impossible to review the work and check for potential errors.

You gotta wonder why they won’t release those rankings. It doesn’t make much sense to me.

* The Jacksonville Journal-Courier has local react…

“The problem with this administration, and I’m getting very blunt, but you can’t trust them,” [State Rep. Jim Watson] said. “The reason we can’t get anything done in Springfield, the reason the budget is in such a mess, is because you can’t trust them. … No one knows where this is coming from.” […]

Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard said he was still feeling numb from hearing about the potential closure form the governor’s office on Thursday. He said with this decision by the state, it appears the writing is on the wall.

“We’ll keep trying to work hard to stop this, but I don’t know if we can,” Ezard said. “I’m heartbroken for the families and the citizens out at JDC and I think our community has done well in cooperating and proving to them this institution is needed. I believe at the end of the day it’s politics as usual, and that’s disappointing.”

While less than optimistic of the outcome, Ezard said he’d already heard from many people throughout the state ready to support keeping JDC open and hoped to mobilize those efforts.

“I would love to start the rhetoric of at least talking to the governor’s office or his team that wants to close this.” Ezard said. “We need to have conversations as soon as possible about what’s going to happen to the building, about possibly not losing the whole thing, keeping some of the buildings open and some of the residents there. Our community is gearing up and ready to help those wanting to go out into Jacksonville, but there are certain residents that we can keep here.”

* Related…

* Erickson: Quinn not around to announce lost jobs

* Praise for Quinn’s JDC plan

* Dripping with red ink: Will anyone fix Illinois’ budget mess?

* Editorial: How they failed you - The tax hikers of 2011 hope you won’t notice the carnage of 2012

* Editorial: Have your voice heard  on tax hikes

* Editorial: Apply pressure on officials to fix pension problem

* Legislators seek ways to cut prison population

* Centralia, Big Muddy, Vandalia Prisons Among Overcrowded in State

* Can the state afford a new crime lab in Belleville? Illinois behind in payments on existing site

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 9:12 am

Comments

**You gotta wonder why they won’t release those rankings. It doesn’t make much sense to me.**

My guess? Some of these facilities are in such bad shape that they are worried that releasing such rankings (and any details that go with them) could lead to lawsuits.

Comment by dave Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 9:43 am
According to the AP storey “Lawmakers from both parties are seeking ways to reduce Illinois’ growing prison population”. If they do so are they not opening themselves up the possible charge that they are “soft on crime” when the next election rolls around? Reducing the prison population makes good economic sense for a state that is broke and is still spending more than it takes in (an estimated $507 million for the current FY). However, is it a good way to be reelected?

Comment by Left Out Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 9:47 am
Are community-based spots available? Will there be better care at less cost? To me, those are the questions, not whether or not state facilities close. You have to cut somewhere.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 9:48 am
Seems a simple foia request is in order

Comment by Wally Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 10:01 am
Wally, internal planning docs are often exempt.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 10:05 am
“Wally, internal planning docs are often exempt.”

Yea. Especially when they want to hide something.

Comment by Springfield Skeptic Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 10:42 am
According to a July 12 UPI story, “New York’s Riker’s Island, Chicago’s Cook County Jail and the Los Angeles County Jail are the largest mental health institutions in the nation, a study found.”

Comment by tired of it all Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 11:40 am
This lack of transparency is disconcerting, as is the announcement of these closures only 1 day after planning “meetings” were held. If you have faith in these conclusions, then release the ratings.

By the way, has anyone seen a copy of the actual transition plan for these individuals yet?

We’re deaing with vulnerable people’s lives here, not just statistics on a sheet of paper.

Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 11:46 am
I talked to a friend that works at JDC. This person described the process of transferring residents from one institution to another. First, the resident wishing to transfer to another facility goes to the facility for a dinner and interacts with the residents. Then a week or so later they go and spend the day and a night at the other facility. If all goes well with the other staff and residents then the individual transferrs. The requirement of 20 transfers a month is too many for this process to take place.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 11:49 am
“Legislators seek ways to cut prison population”

How about ending the senseless war on drugs? Portugal puts that money into drug rehabilitation and it is working.

Comment by wishbone Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 11:55 am
“They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For ’tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar; and ‘t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon: O, ’tis most sweet,
When in one line two crafts directly meet.”

-Hamlet, Act III, scene 4

From the Chicago Reader:

The Melancholy Dane is chuckling over the fate he has in store for his childhood comrades, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are plotting to have him killed. Deferring his existential crisis for a moment, Hamlet turns the plot on the plotters, substituting their names for his in the death warrant they carry from King Claudius.

He continues: “But I will delve one yard below their mines/ And blow them at the moon.” The key word is “mines,” as in “land mines,” for that’s what a petard is (or “petar,” as Shakespeare puts it — people couldn’t spell any better then than now). A small explosive device designed to blow open barricaded doors and gates, the petard was a favorite weapon in Elizabethan times.

Hamlet was saying, figuratively, that he would bury his bomb beneath Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s and “hoist” them, i.e., “blow them at the moon.” Dirty Harry couldn’t have put it any better.

The word “petard,” we note with a grin, comes from the Middle French peter, which derives in turn from the Latin peditum — the sense of which is “to break wind.” Which must mean either that the French had a serious gas problem in those days, or that the petard was of something less than nuclear impact.

=====

Morgan County voted overwhelmingly for Bill Brady, as did Orland Township where Tinley Park is located.

Apparently, residents there believe that Illinois can cut its way out of its budget problems.

So cut we shall.

Next up: agency field offices, universities and prisons.

I can’t wait to here the reaction from local Republican State Reps and Senators when Eastern Illinois University is shuttered.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:00 pm
==“The problem with this administration, and I’m getting very blunt, but you can’t trust them,”==

Amen. Closing JDC could be the best thing for the residents and also balance the budget all by itself, and the administration would still have a hard time selling it. Withholding the ranking details just adds to the distrust. Whatever good reason there is for not disclosing them is a good reason not to even mention them.

Amen and allelujia to ending the war on drugs.

Comment by anonymice Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:08 pm
@anonymice –

I think what Jim Watson was really saying was there’s no backroom deals to be had with the Quinn Administration.

What in the world do the ranking details have to do with whether or not JDC is cost-effective?

It may indeed not be the least cost-effective, but it is certainly less cost-effective than community-based care.

By about $100,000 per resident per year.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:13 pm
The reason they won’t release the criteria is that the criteria 1) are juked to produce a pre-determined outcome, and they may need different criteria to produce the next round of pre-determined outcomes, and 2) don’t make much sense. For example, they include nothing about the actual availability of pre-determined outcomes.
Speaking of which, the administration testified three months ago that they were “negotiating” with hospitals to replace the services provided at Tinley Park MHC. The hospitals said they weren’t aware of any negoatiations, and they’re saying the same thing today.
And by the way Yellow Dog, the area served by Tinley Park MHC went for Quinn, not Brady - so spare me the Shakespeare quotations.

Comment by Eugene Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:16 pm
Sorry, meant to write that the criteria include nothing about the availability of alternative services.

Comment by Eugene Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:17 pm
And speaking of folks getting “hoisted by their own petard,” a fun list from Wiki:

- Li Si (208 BC), Prime Minister during the Qin dynasty, was executed by the Five Pains method which he had devised;

- James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (1581) was executed in Edinburgh on the Scottish Maiden which he had introduced to Scotland as Regent;

- Perillos of Athens, inventor and builder of the brazen bull, was killed by his invention at the order of the tyrant Phalaris, for whom the bull was built.

When champions of budget cuts complain about cuts in their communities, we should all roll around on the floor laughing.

And reporters should ask guys like Jim Watson whether they think it was a mistake to argue that the budget could be balanced through cuts alone.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:18 pm
No, Yellow Dog, it is not more cost effective. The cost comparisons commonly cited don’t allow for the fact that the cost of medical care is included in the cost of care at Jacksonville, but not included in the cost of care at group homes. Also, the intensity of care is not the same for the two populations. The Illinois Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities commissioned a study, the “Blueprint for Redesign,” which made it clear that there were no significant savings to be had by switching people from places like Jacksonville to other settings.

Comment by Eugene Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:21 pm
===Morgan County voted overwhelmingly for Bill Brady, as did Orland Township where Tinley Park is located.

Apparently, residents there believe that Illinois can cut its way out of its budget problems.

So cut we shall.===

Bill Brady is not the governor, nor is he the one suggesting the cut. Your point is moot. Blanket generalizations about one party wanting cuts is not relevant.

If Brady had won and was governor do you think JDC would be on the block? Especially considering their overwhelming support for his election chances? This is about politics. Quinn has nothing to lose in Morgan County.

What are a few mental patients and 400 employees to Quinn?

Comment by Disgusted Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 12:45 pm
Shuttering these facilites are not the best way to help balance IL’s budget.

This represents very poor priorities by our state, and our state leadership.

Again, where’s the transition plan?

Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 1:20 pm
Dog, what is your ongoing problem with my fine alma mater?

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 1:32 pm
This is crazy. Some social services need to be cut, no doubt, but to cut in the first instance services to disabled citizens who cannot do for themselves is just unconscionable. It seems like a cynical political ploy. There are plenty of people who, if pushed, can get up and care for themselves and their families and need to do so. Further, there is no doubt that every govt bureaucracy–even if it has few funds for the real frontline services–typically is bloated in administrative expenses. Let’s get a more balanced approach. Let’s call on each agency head to produce a budget request that reduces its spending this next year, and each subsequent year.

Comment by Peggy R Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 1:48 pm
==What in the world do the ranking details have to do with whether or not JDC is cost-effective?==

Why ask me? I wasn’t the one who cited them as a basis for the decision. My point was that citing them and then not disclosing the details plays right into suspicions of people who already distrust this administration.

Comment by anonymice Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 2:14 pm
Jacksonville is in Morgan County. The country in Nov. 2010 voted over 62% to elect Bill Brady Gov. on a platform of only cutting spending to solve the economic mess that the state is in. The Brady platform was one that also included a pledge of no new taxes (was anti ‘tax and spend’). Pat Quinn got only 29% of the vote (well under half the Brady vote) in Morgan County. Can someone explain why voters in Jacksonville should object to the state cutting spending, like closing facilities and layoffs, following their vote from last year? Is this not what the Jacksonville voters want to happen as indicated by who they strongly voted for? Did not the vorters in Morgan County say that their priorities are more money in their own pockets and less spending on mental health?

Comment by Left Out Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 2:25 pm
@Left Out- I doubt that those residing in Morgan County are mad that there are talks of cutting spending. Their issue probably lies in the fact that there are many other things that could be looked at and possibly cut. If you look at the growth of Illinois spending you would notice that their have been dramatic changes in how the state spends taxpayer money. Maybe roll back the All Kids legislation to not cover those up to 300% FPL. The Poverty Grant formulation was changed in the last decade and has since exploded. Same goes with the PTELL adjustment to the Foundation Grant. These changes have diverted hundreds of millions of dollars elswhere.

The point is that the state could roll back some of its new policies that have completely overshot their initial cost projections instead of cutting a well established institution that provides essential service for those who are not mentally capable of doing so themselves. The story and cuts might be different if there was a feasible transition plan for those affected. Id4eas from Quinn never seem that well thought out.

Comment by Disgusted Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 3:31 pm
Left Out @ 2:25:

1.) Quinn beat Brady with over 64% of the vote in Cook County. Apparently IL should be doubling Tinley’s funding since it’s in Cook County?

The residents and their families will certainly be overjoyed to hear that.

2.) The individuals these cuts will impact most dramatically did not vote - regardless of geography.

3.) I have yet to see legislators, of either party, calling for cuts targeting vital services to the weakest among us first. The majority of proposals put forth thus far begin with cuts and consolidation in other areas.

It’s a bizarre set of priorities that cuts these services first, rather than last.

Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 3:48 pm
All the cuts that are coming are going to seem “unconscionable” to many. Some will seem that way to me, I’m sure. But I don’t have a better answer.

Shall we start instead with K-12 education? No, then how about higher ed? Maybe home care for seniors? Or, maybe, close our state parks. How about subsidized child care for working poor? No, then how about ending the Dept of Agriculture? Maybe eliminate MAP grants?

None of those suit you? Well, there’s always the State Police. Or, we could turn, say, 10,000 prisoners free and close 4 or 5 prisons, but we all do seem to be critical when those folks (they were in prison for a reason, you know. Remember Richard Prior’s line) go and commit crimes.

Ah, well, cut waste and fraud I guess.

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 4:09 pm
Why not start having providers pay for fines when they violate HS policy and laws, much like Public Health does. Hmmm….revenue stream? Also, how can providers take on the additional wards of the state when they can barely keep their doors open due to lack of monies owed to them by the State of Illinois now?

Comment by Ain't No Justice Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 5:45 pm
It is unconscienable (sp?) what Quinn is trying to do with people who live in State Ops. While some people can move quickly like Anonymous pointed out, others require more drawn out and thought out transfers to other centers, state or community. Interdisciplinary Teams meet to form these plans, and it is discussed at least annually whether or not it is felt someone would benefit from placement. There is no rubber stamp where staff in state ops say no one should be placed. Done the right way, people can succeed. Done wrong, placement back in a state op generally happens, after a series of visits to hospital ERs and psych wards.
Conveniently, the “Blue Print” that was made for individuals who have DD, included people from the community, not many parents and a man who was brought to Illinois and DHS specifically to close facilities down. If people do their homework, they will find that this plan stinks, and not just for what the plan includes.
The AP also included Chester in with the DD facilities at Anna and Jacksonville. It is rather an MI facility for those not able to stand trial. Anna has the only DD forensic unit in the state. Where will they go if Anna closes? No other facility is prepared to handle these cases.
There are very few openings in the community at this time across the state. I don’t know of any agency with the ability to develop and have ready any placements without money being there first. I am scared for the future of the people who truly need state services. If things continue as planned, people are going to die.

Comment by Wickedred Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 6:45 pm
Commentors on this site are for the main part thoughtful, bright, and insightful. We rightfully scourge people who clamor for cuts in state spending and then whine when they hit close to home.

But to tell the truth, I don’t hear many of us “best and brightest” suggest any real cuts either. Dog will be here with his regular willingness to cut tax expenditures, but how about program cuts, billions worth? Where are we on that? We’re critical of the Governor for not governing, and scornful of legislators who oppose local cuts. Generally, though not universally we said taxes had to go up, but that cuts also needed to be made.

Well, taxes are up, the budget is still billions out of balance (not necessarily structurally as bad as it used to be, granted), and we ain’t offering much help that I can see. Is all we favor 5 billion more in tax increases? Who’ll go first?

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 7:22 pm
Response to Schnorf at 4:09…

Ok. I’ll bite:
K-12: Plenty of room for cutting administrative costs and salaries. Some positions can be cut, too. I don’t know why an El Ed school needs specialized music, art and PE teachers, for example. Homeroom teachers can do these things. Pre-K Sp-Ed got cut except for minority communities.
*Colleges and Unis. Go ahead, cut administrative and fluff costs and salaries. You know it’s there. Lose the silly unproductive degree programs of “X studies.” That’ll cut payroll nicely.
*Every one benefits from state parks, unlike targeted programs. They are already fairly limited in offerings and resources. I am sure some administrative guy or gal is over-paid in there somewhere. They are already being closed certain days in winter season. (We had to bag some touristing with visitors as a result.)
*Subsidized child care for the poor. Yep. Absolutely cut this. This is what marriage and extended family are for==to have people to care for and raise our own children. Much of the welfare state needs to be cut back in order for the state to survive.
*Ag Dept: No doubt some overpaid admin salaries, some unproductive and crony grants.
*Don;t know what MAPS are.
*St Police. I bet some belt tightening could be done here as well as anywhere in the state budget.
*Cut food stamps, repeal the recent EITC expansion (what a scam that is–the rest of us don’t suffer in these times?).
Is that enough? Cheers!

Comment by Southern Peggy Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 7:42 pm
A multitude of “real cuts” and consolidations exist in proposals put forth by a broad spectrum of groups, ranging from The United Way of IL to the Illinois Policy Institute to the IL Senate GOP to The Mercatus Center to various affiliates of the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights.

NONE of them suggest these closures. They offer *billions* of dollars in alternatives, many of which are far more palatable than shunning these individuals.

A quick review of testimony submitted during the last closure proposal also reveals myriad ways to keep these facilities open without raising taxes or spending and without reducing services in other areas.

The solutions exist in very real, practical terms.

The lingering question is: What priorities will our state establish?

These specific cuts should be some of the last ones made in FY2013 - not the first.

Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 7:47 pm
Peggy, not even close, but at least you didn’t do JUST waste. PE, art, music, those get peoples attention. That’s why the locals threaten to cut them when they need a referendum passed.

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 7:47 pm
S&A, much more palatable to you, perhaps. Anyone who tries to tell you we can solve our budget problems without imposing a whole lot of pain on someone is either ignorant or deceitful.

So it’s not a matter of avoiding the pain, it’s having the courage to decide who we will and won’t impose it on. That choice could involve imposing by raising taxes instead of cutting programs, but the choice of doing nothing painful ain’t on the table, at least among adults.

Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 8:04 pm
That underscores my point, Steve. Difficult decisions will have to be made, and priorities set.

Few pretend painless cuts exist - at least among adults - but even fewer pretend these closures should be the first priority.

Some may prefer funding Broadway shows to keeping these facilities open, along with the economic benefit they bring to theri local regions.

I, however, do not find that “much more palatable”.

Then again, everyone has different priorities.

Comment by Shock & Awww(e) Monday, Jan 23, 12 @ 9:24 pm
@ Peggy 7:42PM , let me see what I can offer

K12: The state’s K-12 agency (ISBE) only has about $22M in GRF Admin expenses, just how much savings do you expect to find? Like 80-90% of ISBE General Funds budget is made up of General State Aid & various other Mandate programs (such as Special Ed Transportation, Special Ed Personnel assistance, Regular transportation, Free Breakfast/Lunch Programs, etc). To what level should we cut these & drive up your property tax?

Colleges & Unis: I actually agree with you that we can find some real savings here, but also keep in mind that we’ve been forcing Universities for years to grant unfunded waivers to friends of lawmakers. Can we honestly expect universities to embrace these cuts when the GA has been forcing them to eat these costs for a couple decades? Even if we can find savings & get the universities to buy into these changes, I’d argue that we should at the very least flat fund the universities & allow these savings to offset/control tuition inflation & make higher education accessible to more Illinoisans.

State parks; Everyone of us certainly do not benefit from state parks. We all have the option to, but most choose not to. I am an avid hunter & even I rarely, if ever use state ground to do my hunting. I’m certain there are hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions?) of Chicagoans who have never & will never visit a state park. Perhaps some of these park rangers/maintenance staff are overpaid, but often they are drastically under-staffed, leaving only a few people to regulate/maintain/protect hundreds or thousands acres of state-owned property.

Subsidized Child Care- your stance discourages earning a living. Without helping low-income with child care, they often realize they are actually better off by staying home with their child & just collecting TANF money instead. Talk about living in a dream world, divorce happens, single parenthood happens……we cannot turn our back on these families, especially the children who benefit from professional childcare.

AG: AG does have some very valuable programs……meat inspection for example. But most of Ag’s costs have to do with the Spfld & DuQuoin state fairs. Would you propose we end these fairs, who under Quinn have began breaking even & even making some money?

MAP: MAP Grants are income-based grants to college students for tuition. These grants are based on parents’ income, assets, etc and help make higher-ed accessible to Illinoisans

ISP: State Police have been losing troopers right & left, and have not been given adequate funding for cadet classes to offset this attrition of troopers. Very few would be so bold as to make cuts here.

Food Stamps: By this, I assume you are referring to the LINK card……This is not a state program, it is a federal program administered by the state. Therefore, the cost to the state is minimal while the benefits are significant.

EITC: I’ve not seen estimates on how much this increase costs the state, but I’d be curious to see. I am confident it is worth the benefit to the working poor. Afterall, if we are going to end subsidized childcare, then these families could certainly use some extra disposable income subsidized childcare so they don’t have to quit their jobs, be forced to starve because Illinois told the Feds they didn’t want any more food stamp money, heck even the kids don’t get to eat while at school because we’ve cut ISBE’s budget so bad that we’ve had to get rid of the free/reduced lunch/breakfast programs at their schools.

I hope this is helpful, because few, if any of the cuts you’ve suggested are both realistic & significant.

Comment by TCB Tuesday, Jan 24, 12 @ 10:20 am