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Our rapidly decaying human service infrastructure

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There are approximately 490 nonprofit organizations in DeKalb County, according to information Dawn Littlefield, executive director of Kishwaukee United Way, presented. Not only do some of them provide social services or other aid to thousands of residents, collectively, they employ about 7,000 people.

But Littlefield said many agencies are in financial distress. Her parent agency, United Way, reports that more than 60 percent of the county’s nonprofit organizations, which do such things as provide services to working families and battered women, aid seniors in independent living, and serve as resources for low-income individuals and families, have enough cash to last no more than three months. Another 20 percent have less than a month’s cash on hand. Program, service and staff cuts have been made at nearly half of the service agencies and at least 1 in 8 have closed programs altogether.

“I can’t stand here and say to you tonight that Safe Passage is going to be able to go on after January or February,” said Mary Ellen Schaid, executive director of the domestic and sexual abuse advocacy organization.

* From the Telegraph…

Francis Gonzales, an Alton senior, said he relies on SSP’s Meals on Wheels programs to deliver hot meals to his home. Since the budget impasse, SSP has had to cut drivers from the program and drop the meal deliveries from five days a week to only two. The organization currently serves 630 seniors in 22 townships and has a waiting list of 110 people.

…Adding… McDonough County Voice…

Delays in Medicaid payments due to the state budget impasse are negatively impacting access to mental health services, said Kenny Boyd, president and CEO of the McDonough District Hospital. Boyd said North Central Behavioral Health services in Macomb has had to cut back to “bare bones” due to Medicaid payment delays, so MDH is experiencing a large influx of new patients. The hospital has had 100 new clients apply for its Behavioral Health Services this month, and cannot take new ones for at least another month. He said the behavioral health unit is struggling to even handle its emergency services.

Boyd said MDH has worked with Macomb Police Chief Curt Barker and Sheriff Rick Van Brooker for the past six to eight months to try to manage an increasing number of people with mental health issues getting jailed. Boyd said the Medicaid payment problems have caused patients who need services to “ping-pong” between the mental health system, jail and the community.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 9:57 am

Comments

More ==victims== of this ==epic struggle==.

Better sign a mutual cease fire before it is too late for them.

While ==faith-based services== may also be able to help carry some of this, they can not replace the state.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:02 am
“… Diana Rauner, President of Ounce of Prevention and who personally vouched for Bruce Rauner in a 7-figure Ad campaign during Bruce Rauner’s run for governor… ”

Man, Diana Rauner has to be embarrassed for herself. How can she NOT be?

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:03 am
I don’t think that Bruce cares about this one bit. He must make the most out of this crisis, or else he can’t insure that he and his cronies will continue to make more money.

Comment by Big Joe Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:06 am
Has everybody bought the bonds for their hedge funds so we can get this train wreck cleaned up? /s

Comment by cdog Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:07 am
Governor Rauner has been planning on our rapidly decaying human service infrastructure to force his political opponents into divisions small enough for ILGOP to conquer politically.

While Rauner’s method of political brinksmanship didn’t work in Stalingrad or Leningrad, the Governor believes Illinois Democrats are weaker and more willing to sell out some of their political beliefs in order to give into him.

Reading about these social organizations collapsing into fiscal turmoil and bankruptcy make Rauner feel bad for them, but he comforts himself believing that it is the Democrat’s fault for causing it.

A simple unconditional capitulation by everyone is all Bruce Rauner wants, so that these poor hurting people can survive through the winter when he permits food, medicines and heat to flow once again to our needy citizens.

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:13 am
All these folks need is just to hang in there.

We’re winning.

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:14 am
Do you realize how small McDonough County is? Multiply those problems by 99 and add in Cook, and you’re talking about one very big problem.

Comment by Rufus Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:15 am
Hang in there, kids. Only a couple months more, and we might have the big win–when rahm makes enuf dems “compromise” (wink, wink). Until then, you are just wedges. So, buck up, and do your part.

Comment by Langhorne Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:17 am
http://www.voices4kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Lack-of-Budget-Dismantling-Critical-State-Services-Final.pdf

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:19 am
This might be a good opportunity to enhance our human services infrastructure for the future. I do believe they need more money, but this is an opportunity for non-profits to be more collaborative. The truth is we have a large number of non-profits and they all do good work, could we be more effective (less administrative and top heavy) with less providers and more front line workers?

Comment by Ahoy! Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:21 am
Rauner thanks you for your sacrifice during this all-important anti-union crusade.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:22 am
Ahoy, the state has been a lousy partner for a very long time. Social services, with a few exceptions, operate on very thin margins as it is. There are a lot of providers, but we’re spread throughout the state. In the case of part of the Community Care Program, there are even administrative rules that cap our allowed administrative expenses. Can we still do better? I’m sure we can but now is NOT the time to try it as we figure out which bill can be paid, which can wait, and if we turn out all the lights, will the landlord think we’ve left for the day and try to collect his rent later.

Comment by CCP Hostage Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:27 am
Ahoy-

That may be, but in the interim we as a State are getting fewer providers and NO front line workers. Turing the power off is one way to save on electricity, but the expense of replacing and repairing the pipes after they freeze is hardly worth the electrical savings. Even though Rauner is “draining” the pipes, he never plans to turn the “electricity” or the “water” back on in the future. The Legislature (as well as the voters) is going to have to decide if People in this State matter more than campaign contributions.

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:29 am
…and Rauner tells his people he is winning! What exactly does he think he is winning?

Comment by Mama Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:33 am
@ Formerly Known As === While ==faith-based services== may also be able to help carry some of this, they can not replace the state. ===

It’s even worse than that — many of the not-for-profits Gov. Rauner is targeting here are faith-based. Faith alone doesn’t pay the bills and keep the lights turned on.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:35 am
The Tribune had a story a few days ago about private investors taking over the funding of social services.

“Illinois’ troubled child welfare system could soon become an investment opportunity for charities, banks and wealthy citizens under a public-private partnership experiment set to launch Tuesday.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-dcfs-private-investors-met-20151102-story.html

Up to now I’ve just considered the destruction of the non-profits as unplanned collateral damage from Rauner’s crusade against unions. Perhaps this is not so unplanned after all. Thinning out the herd of social service agencies would certainly open up room for Rauner’s investment pals to take advantage of new opportunities.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:35 am
Norseman-

And I don’t think that will be the only “new investment” opportunities opened up under this administration as the “shakedown” continues.

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:42 am
Lets be honest folks, the crisis in Human Services funding didn’t start in January, it’s been going on for years under Quinn and Blago. All this budget crisis did was speed up the death process. No social service agency has had adequate funding increases to keep up with CODB and increased state compliance mandates, and now an improving economy that offers better wages than we can. If Madigan and company can’t override the veto then why aren’t they at the table negotiating with the gov. Why?, because they don’t really care about the people served by DHS, they care about power and money. So Madigan will wait until Jan when he doesn’t need the 3/5ths vote and then do something, we hope. But in the meantime social service agencies will continue their death spiral.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:42 am
“Illinois’ troubled child welfare system could soon become an investment opportunity… under a public-private partnership experiment”

I’ve been told this “experiment” was originally proposed by the Quinn administration — is that true?

Comment by Secret Square Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:43 am
===Lets be honest folks,===

“… I’m a troll looking to not have Rauner own his choices to hurt social services, and embarrass the Predident of Ounce at the same time.”

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 10:45 am
>>The truth is we have a large number of non-profits and they all do good work, could we be more effective (less administrative and top heavy) with less providers and more front line workers

I mainly know agencies in small towns. They don’t have much overhead, and supervisors and even CEOs spend a lot of their time doing direct services themselves, which doesn’t necessarily show up on financial statements. These agencies are deeply connected to their communities. Don’t take that as a ding against large agencies, I”m just speaking to what I know and that I don’t, though I know of some truly great large agencies.

Comment by Earnest Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:04 am
“Crisis creates leverage” - unknown?

Comment by forwhatitsworth Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:06 am
Rauner: What are they complainin’ about? I’m workin’ without pay, they can do the same. They must realize it’s worth it to get my turnaround agenda passed.
Oh, good, here comes the armored truck with my wine club delivery bottle of the week. $5000 and well worth it. I will have a glass with dinner.

Comment by DuPage Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:07 am
It is more apparent every day that the ill effects of the budget situation are part of a strategy to destroy the structure of human services in Illinois. What is not apparent is how this benefits anyone.

Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:10 am
Wait a second. When Illinois reduced the income tax rate to 3.75% that should have launched significant economic growth and an outpouring of charitable contributions to replace the reduced state contributions to social services. Right?

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:15 am
I think the average citizen would be shocked at the amount of state supported social services that are delivered by these social services agencies. Many were created with the sole purpose Bring these services to their county/city/neighborhood. Without them the state would have to hire permanent employees or push those responsibilities on to local governments via mandate. The local social service agencies are encouraged to be entrepreneurial and apply for a wide spectrum of grants. Many of them deliver the services from multiple state agencies. They do yoeman work and the state is now treating them as practically disposable partners.

Comment by Relocated Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:18 am
Dekalb County, IL had a population of about 105,000 in the 2010 census. 38,484 households with 7.7% of those below the poverty line, so about 3,000 households below the poverty line. 14.6% of the population was below the poverty line, about 15,330 people.

“490 nonprofit organizations in DeKalb County”…”they employ about 7,000 people”.

So 1 nonprofit organization for every 32 people below the poverty line. And 1 nonprofit employee for every 2.19 people below the poverty line.

That’s all based on 2010 and things could be much different now. Also, its not to say that only those below the poverty line need hold from time to time. Just doing the math since I found it curious.

Comment by Jeff Trigg Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:19 am
should be need help, not need hold, typo/autocorrect

Comment by Jeff Trigg Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:23 am
As a DHS caseworker, I have found that a lot of the working poor actually work part-time for social service agencies. They are a natural workforce since they have direct experience with “x” and know how to navigate the system. It’s a win-win and helps folks get on their feet and address the issue that they themselves survived. Former felons giving motivational lectures at schools is a good example. Having OW give a speech on how to stay out of the pokie, although interesting, might not be as effective as having an actual reformed convict give the speech.

Comment by Honeybear Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:30 am
Jeff Trigg-

Your math is misleading. Not all 490 nonprofits are focused on human services. That is your community group, your soccer club, you small arts organization. They are all registered as nonprofits. Many don’t have staff. Many aren’t set up to serve people experiencing poverty. The majority aren’t using state funding and aren’t doing programs the state would traditionally fund.

Is there a reasonable conversation to be had about whether there are some nonprofits that should work together more and/or merge? Sure. These numbers don’t help that conversation and don’t have anything to do with the ridiculous budget crisis we are in.

Comment by Montrose Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:30 am
How to find the nonprofits in your area. Note- this includes all listed for a county, not just service oriented.

http://www.taxexemptworld.com/search.asp?type=ot

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:38 am
Maybe Goldman Sachs can give them some advice - they seemed to do pretty well in this pre school ppp.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/business/dealbook/did-goldman-make-the-grade.html?_r=0

Comment by NoGifts Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:50 am
Montrose,

Makes sense. But then, perhaps those 490/7,000 numbers should not have been used to make the case that they need funding. Using those two numbers were misleading considering the percentages they used in the next paragraph.

So how many of those nonprofits in Dekalb County do necessary work for people in need, and how many people do they employ? 60% of how many county nonprofits have cash for less than 3 months, and 20% of how many have cash for less than a month?

Why use the 490/7,000 numbers when you know how many there are that serve people and don’t have enough cash on hand? That’s a bit misleading. If there was ever a time to look into the effectiveness and efficiency of these nonprofit service groups, this seems like it would be it. I know I would rather these human service nonprofits be more successful than the state or federal government try doing everything for everybody.

Comment by Jeff Trigg Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:51 am
As staff are laid off, the ones who can leave Illinois will do so. After all, ever since 9/11, we’ve seen human services cut to the bare minimum.

Now, human services have become the governor’s punching bag. Why in world stay here and wait for agencies to rehire and reopen when you can go elsewhere and have job security and your work respected?

The shambles goes beyond this current mess - which is getting worse. It’s going to cost Illinois experienced human services workers. The upcoming college graduates are going to head out of state for jobs. In a few years, I will have worked forty years in human services in Illinois. I’m waving at retirement on the horizon. Otherwise, I’d be exploring my options outside of Illinois. Professionals aren’t going to stick around for endless abuse if they have an alternative.

Comment by Aldyth Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 11:58 am
Norseman, the movement toward Social Impact Bonds started under Quinn. The news story was just to announce that one of these initiatives, which started under Quinn, is officially underway now. Here’s the info about Quinn initiating it all: https://www.missioninvestors.org/news/illinois-to-be-the-second-state-to-launch-a-social-impact-bond-program

Comment by Anon Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 12:35 pm
-I know I would rather these human service nonprofits be more successful than the state or federal government try doing everything for everybody.-

I get what you’re saying and don’t disagree (for the most part), but there isn’t profit in social service work thus there is very little capital invested in it. I mean how many people give money to a non-profit for reasons other than a tax write off. Let’s be honest (not counting churches) That’s why so many private social service agencies are hurting right now, because the public funding is not there. Public funding/grants for private social service agencies is a conservative staple idea by the way. The whole welfare to work idea is getting thrown under the bus these days by conservatives (not saying that about folks on this blog for the most part). Same thing happened to marketplace solutions vs. single payer. Dems went with the Romneycare version of Mass. then voooop! Under the bus. Well, we’re going to see first hand what happens when you take away public funding for private solutions.

Comment by Honeybear Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 12:59 pm
=== Norseman, the movement toward Social Impact Bonds started under Quinn. ===

I saw that, but Quinn isn’t the governor and how that and similar initiatives are implemented are now in Rauner’s power. I would say the current gov will be more aggressive getting his investment buds money opportunities than the previous.

Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 1:10 pm
Aldyth, thank you for your service to the state. That’s inspirational to me. Thank you

Comment by Honeybear Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 1:34 pm
Perhaps it’s time for the politically connected wealthy and crony capitalists to step in and fill the breech, as should have been the case from the start. Some programs require state payments to get Fed matching funds, and those need to to be state funded. The rest, like some day care assistance? Time for the Pritzgers and their ilk to ante up. Of course, they’d prefer to have tax increases they can shelter to protect themselves from, while the working people in Illinois pay the bills while the pols the elite buy regularly decide how the tax dollars taken from them are spent.

Have those folks banded together to help out in these tough times, and asked the wealthy to contribute and pay up, or did I miss it?

Comment by Arizona Bob Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 1:38 pm
@AB: if wealthy folk ’should’ step in and fund social services, why give them the option? Why not call for a tax on them (i.e. a change in the Constitution and a progressive tax) so that they could be obliged to do what they should do but are not doing? We don’t stop at saying that people should not steal: we pass laws and enforce them. Why not in this case?

Comment by UIC Guy Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 1:59 pm
AZ-

Why don’t you send that question to Rauner? http://www.seiuhcilin.org/2015/11/03/bruce-rauner-remarks-on-child-care-show-out-of-touch-elitism/

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 1:59 pm
Arizona Bob, a lot of those people like the Pritzkers (who are Democrats FWIW) do good work behind the scenes. But far too many want tax cuts and then *won’t* do anything to fill the gaps.

Comment by Southern Illinois Hoopdee Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 2:47 pm
“Perhaps it’s time for the politically connected wealthy and crony capitalists to step in and fill the breech, as should have been the case from the start.”

It would be nice if the politically-connected, wealthy, crony-capitalist sleeping in the governor’s mansion did something about it.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 3:30 pm
-MisterJayEm,

Could it be the politically-connected, wealthy, crony-capitalists that aren’t doing their part are Rauner donors?

Comment by Southern Illinois Hoopdee Friday, Nov 6, 15 @ 3:33 pm