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A total mess

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* From the Illinois Department of Human Services…

Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2016 3:49 PM
Subject: FY17 Homeless Youth Continuation Application Plan & Budget Forms
Importance: High

Dear Providers:

Attached are the FY17 Continuation Application Plan & Budget forms and instructions along with the Grant Application cover page. All documents must be completed and submitted on or before June 6th to be considered for funding in FY17. We apologize for the short turn around, but we needed to ensure that we were in compliance with 30 ILCS 708, the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA). It should be noted that very little has changed in the Application Plan, so most of the existing information from last year’s plan can be updated. Additionally, the Uniform Budget Forms that are required are not yet ready, but we expect them any day. DHS is working on creating a usable PDF version that will be sent out as soon as possible. I am including an excel version of the Uniform Budget template for you to use as a guide. However, it is very important that you double check the formulas as they are incomplete.

When completing your budget forms and narrative, please be as complete and detailed as possible. These budgets must be approved prior to DHS issuing contracts for FY17. We will not be able to approve these budgets if there is not sufficient detail provided.

So, they’re bidding out contracts for FY17 grants when they don’t even have a budget for FY16. Man, what a state. Talk about bad faith contracting.

* And those budget forms that “are required” but “not yet ready”? Bad news…

Sent: Friday, May 27, 2016 1:25 PM
Subject: FY17 Homeless Youth Continuation Application Plan & Budget Forms
Importance: High

Afternoon All,

As you are aware, the complete Uniform Budget Template is still not fully complete. In lieu of this, we have a new plan. Attached please find a fillable 4-page PDF version of the Uniform Budget Template. This version does not include the worksheet pages in which you were to include your detailed budget narrative/justification. It will still be necessary for you to provide a detailed budget narrative/justification along with the attached 4-page Uniform Budget Template.

Budgets will NOT be approved if sufficient detail is not provided in this narrative. It is necessary to provide this detailed justification for EACH section and line item within your budget. For those of you that have received funding through this Bureau in the past, you are aware of the level of justification required for the budget to be approved.

Please understand that FY17 contracts cannot be issued until after your budget is approved. So please describe the program need and “show your work” so-to-speak as to how you arrived at the amount being requested for each item. Also, please make sure your administrative costs (direct +indirect) do not exceed the maximum 20% including match (if required).

For this year, you may provide that narrative justification/detail in whatever format you like. You may use the previously provided excel version of this template, some variation of that, something you used in a previous year or even provide it in a word document. If you chose a narrative (non-table) format – please be certain that all line items are listed and fully addressed.

Finally, as this year funding is only being awarded for one year, please disregard the years 2 and 3 columns in the budget template.

* And then…

Date: Fri, May 27, 2016 at 1:59 PM
Subject: FW: FY17 Homeless Youth Continuation Application Plan & Budget Forms

Unfortunately, for you to be able to fill and save these forms we just sent you need to have more than Adobe Reader on your computer. If someone in your office has Adobe Acrobat they should be able to open the document in acrobat, fill and save. But you obviously do not and should not have to go through all of that.

Please try this – we have tried on multiple computers with only reader software and it has worked.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience.

If anyone is experiencing accessibility issues with this document, please email me at [redacted] and we will be able to provide an ADA compliant accessible version.

One last thing – you can find the CSFA # and the CSFA Description/title on the Application Cover Page (3-page pdf document). For this program there is no NOFO number, please indicate N/A.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:06 am

Comments

Trust.

The bottom line in this ridiculous fiasco from soup to nuts, actors and real victims comes back to trust.

“Who” is going to trust an Administration that won’t even fund its own agencies?

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:14 am
“We have a new plan.” [updated state motto]

Comment by Dome Gnome Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:16 am
It’s going to continue to be a total mess. This has been made FAR more complicated than it needed to be. A lot of people at agencies who are supposed to be implementing GATA still do not fully understand the requirements. The paperwork has increased 10-fold. Many grantees are going to be confused by all of the new paperwork and requirements to even be eligible for a grant. There is supposed to be grantee portal where grantees register (which is required to receive a grant) but that portal is not yet available. It’s ridiculous that these requirements even apply to all grants. Look for this year (if there is ever a budget) to be a complete disaster when it comes to the state handing out grants.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:16 am
O.M.G.!!! A total set-up for DHS SuperStars to be able to totally dismiss applications because the applicant didn’t “show their work” sufficiently. What a crock! There is absolutely no excuse for a department such as DHS to put programs at risk, and, more likely than not, Federal dollars that ARE possible but will not be used because of such incompetence.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:17 am
Heck of a way to run a railroad.

Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:18 am
This is absurd × 10.

Remember the old adage: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:20 am
Illinois: We are very sorry for the inconvenience.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:20 am
GATA?

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:21 am
Norseman- http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=83724

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:23 am
A best worst example of why knowledgeable government employees are a priceless asset to the state. This is what amateurs turn out.

The constant disrespecting of state workers, and their subsequent leaving government service, will be the enduring legacy of the Rauner administration.

Comment by Groundhog Day Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:23 am
That’s a lot of work to not get paid.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:32 am
“Bad faith” is the Rauner administration motto.

Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:32 am
Sheer incompetence or is it all staged for the benefit of the connected few?

Comment by Chicago 20 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:33 am
This right here. A perfect example of a collapsing state workforce. I’ll bet you anything the people formerly responsible for this have left state service. This has the smell of new- person-who-didn’t-know-till-last-week. This is what I’m talking about. Perfect example of rapidly deteriorating function. It’s what happens when you villainize public servants, pay the replacements poorly, and fail to train new employees. Oh, it also sounds like an outside contractor didn’t get the template done. Maybe if we had paid them it would have been complete.
It’s going to be a Summer of discovering this kind of stuff. A whole Summer of it. We’ve already crashed folks. The shock is wearing off and we’re looking about at the devastation and starting to comprehend it.

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:34 am
Norseman, it stands for “Grant Accountability and Transparency Act”

Comment by Juice Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:37 am
== In lieu of this, we have a new plan. ==

Superb. Took a wile to figure this out?

Comment by sal-says Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:38 am
Dear Providers, Welcome to my humble Adobe. Unfortunately, you can’t get there from here.

Comment by justacitizen Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:39 am
Groundhog Day, FYI, this email was sent by a long-time DHS employee who has nothing to do with the Rauner administration

Comment by FYI Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:39 am
Once they endure this cluster of an application process, the state will bestow on them a contract that won’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Many nonprofit state contractors have provided services without payment since February 2015. The state already owes them millions. Will new contracts state payment will be made after 2016 election? 2018?

Comment by Politix Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:42 am
“Dear Providers, Welcome to my humble Adobe. Unfortunately, you can’t get there from here.”

You win

Comment by Politix Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:43 am
Par for the course.

Comment by Shemp Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:45 am
Honeybear, see comment above. These emails were not sent by a “new person”

Comment by FYI Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:45 am
“* And those budget forms that “are required” but “not yet ready”? Bad news…”

Things like this have been going on all year.

We received the GATA notice and went to the “portal” which was closed/not ready. if that is the case it really isn’t a portal is it?

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:46 am
Chicago government works just like this. Agencies are required to file reports on forms “not ready yet” and then told agency didn’t meet contract requirements and won’t get paid or get new contracts. City employees don’t know how to fill out forms or use required reporting systems and tell agencies to call city consultants located thousands of miles away.

Comment by been there Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:52 am
“Heck of a job, Bhattie,” fake Rauner.

http://www.illinois.gov/sites/cio/about/Pages/default.aspx

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 10:59 am
A perfect example of what happens in this Rauner administration.

“State Employee, go do your job without any guidance or support from us while I bash you for things being bad.”

“Also, we have to make Illinois business friendly (while refusing to pay the businesses that provide our services)”

Bottom Line: We replaced a well-meaning moderately incompetent Governor with an intentionally completely incompetent Governor.

I will…..Vote Accordingly, but that’s a long way off.

Comment by BluegrassBoy Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:02 am
Thank you Anon221.

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:02 am
Anon221:

He’s not responsible for this. GATA is managed by OMB.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:04 am
He has a degree “from India.” Seriously?

Comment by historic66 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:04 am
It is a supremely discouraging time to be a human service provider. You’ve gone over a decade without any increases, you can’t afford decent wages so have lots of staff turnover, can’t cut costs because 80% of it is staff and to cut staff you have to then cut services. You get through Governor Quinn and his gigantic payment delays and his cuts. You have a candidate for governor who campaigns on being the most compassionate state in the nation and has the head of a large human service provider do a commercial with him. You have some hope at that point that a new governor and divided government will lead to financial stability for the state. Instead, you get a governor whose interest is in destroying the current system in order to bring in large, multi-state providers while diverting attention from this strategy by talking about and blaming everything else under the sun. Sometimes I even doubt his claims to want “reforms.” If he wanted them he could have gotten some right away in his honeymoon period while stabilizing the state budget. I think it’s about getting things bad enough to truly have leverage. If he ultimately gets it, can we trust he’ll do something to make the state better?

Comment by Earnest Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:04 am
FYI, the person sending this email may well be a long-time state employee. I’m guessing that s/he is not the person who was holding the knowledge for the department.

Comment by Groundhog Day Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:05 am
Let me add, that I am just baffled at how a state website can write something like that. No disrespect intended toward Bhatt.

Comment by historic66 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:08 am
Demoralized- has his staff been involved in any technology “upgrades”? That was my point.

http://www.illinois.gov/sites/cio/transformation/Pages/default.aspx

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:08 am
My father had a saying: a fish stinks from the head. Poor leadership at the head — results stink. No reliable leadership in state government. Sad.

Comment by Diogenes in DuPage Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:08 am
Anon221:

Not with this. Maybe they should in the future.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:10 am
FYI- How can you tell? There is no link to the email. Now if it’s your department, I get it. In that case, what the hell happened? Did it have anything to do with changing the form? Was the new form outsourced? Haven’t you guys lost a bunch of folks up there? What’s the hold up. I’m down here grinding under 52,000 people and I’m trying to point out that I don’t think things are going well because we are losing people and not preserving institutional knowledge of how things get done. I think the above illustrates that. Obviously. So if you know of the actual circumstance. Spill it

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:19 am
Demoralized- Thanks for the info. OMB is listed near the end of the Transformation page, though.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:19 am
Whether intentional or not, this fiasco may continue to “starve the beast”. Tragic.

Comment by Langhorne Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:27 am
Honeybear:

This has nothing to do with the lack of institutional knowledge and everything to do with poor implementation. These people at DHS did not create the forms. They are using what they were given and told to use.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:27 am
@honeybear
=Oh, it also sounds like an outside contractor didn’t get the template done. Maybe if we had paid them it would have been complete.=

Chances are if it were the person’s job and they chose not to do it, it wouldn’t have been done if they were paid more. Public service employment just doesn’t work that way.

Paying a poor worker more doesn’t make them a better employee, it just makes them a more expensive one.

Your new employee training point is well taken. That’s a big problem in both the private and public sectors now. Supervisors just don’t want to take the time, and quality suffers because of it. It’s especially a problem with contract workers in whom management doesn’t want to “invest”.

Comment by Illinois Bob Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:29 am
I know I may be politically naïve when it comes to common sense and the workings of Illinois government, but is there some reason that no one is proposing putting together a budget for how to spend the $32 billion we know will be there in revenues, then working out additional revenues and spending issues later on?

That would seem to be a reasonable stop gap measure to keep essential services running and minimize pain for the citizens of Illinois, especially the most vulnerable.

I’d think that Rauner could get some points fro saying, “We need to meet our constitutional responsibility and pass a budget based on currently available funding. We need to do this to avert extreme hardship and dislocation in Illinois government. I think we can agree on the most “essential’ services that need immediate funding. At this time, however, we can’t increase spending beyond current levels for all but emergency situations. We will keep all essential services funded and only proceed with capital work that needs to be performed for immediate safety needs, and projects for which matching funds are provided. The battle should be over additional funding, NOT the essential services which we can and must fund. I suggest that all state departments and governmental bodies plan and negotiate for “no growth” state funding until this matter is resolved.”

Comment by Illinois Bob Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:43 am
I’m sitting on a conference call in which GOMB and DHS are trying to explain this mess that was created and foisted upon providers in the last two weeks. “Yeah, we know nothing’s ready but figure something out or you won’t get contracts.”

So, the state has not been able to pay us for the FY16 state contracts but, in order to get FY17 contracts which may be just as worthless, we’re supposed to jump through these complicated new and never-before-tried processes. More paperwork is bad enough but to impose these new burdens on organizations that have been laying off staff and closing programs while Rauner talks about making it easier to do business in Illinois is the definition of chutzpah.

Comment by Mister Whipple Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:46 am
Might be a good time to check the scorecard to see “Who is winning?” or maybe “Who isn’t losing?”

Comment by A guy Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:46 am
Mister Whipple on the same call. What a fill-in-the-blank mess.

Comment by 100 miles west Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:58 am
A brief primer:

GATA is an attempt by the State to take seriously the Federal regulations on financial management, procurement, responsibility, etc. There has been a general push over the last few years to “get religion” on this, and please note I’m not talking about corruption or legislative weirdness; this is more about general bookkeeping, auditing, procurement habits, etc. The law requiring this was passed under Quinn.

Like it or hate it, much of the actual griping about GATA is about intended features, not bugs. Unless the Feds dramatically shift their position these requirements are here to stay. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think this is even remotely a deliberate effort to reduce grant spending in the state or a result of a brain drain. There’s staff at OMB that have been dedicated to the implementation for a good while. The many, major bugs are mostly the result of inadequate lead time, inadequate input from applicants, and inadequate funding/staffing.

Comment by Threepwood Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 11:59 am
Note, this process is not just for homeless service providers. Most of the community service contracts have to jump through these hoops. The process is also something of a competition / rebid for contracts. So…last minute notice…no documents prepared….in the middle of a fiscal disaster…== good times to be in public service in Illinois. /not.

I mean, really. What a mess.

Comment by Square Pegs Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 12:02 pm
This applies to all grants from all agencies in the state, whether Federal pass-through or state funded.

Comment by Threepwood Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 12:11 pm
Huh. Maybe transparency works both ways.

Comment by Pawn Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 12:25 pm
Illinois Bob
A budget based only on current revenues cannot pay for much if anything beyond k-12 education and court ordered expenditures. Nobody wants to take credit for the cuts revealed by this approach.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 12:45 pm
Why do people keep attributing this lower level stuff to the governor? I remember several years ago, IDOR sent out report forms in paper and in Excel on a 3.5″ floppy. I filled out the the forms on the floppy and sent it back. We later got a call saying they didn’t get the report back. Turned out they never opened the floppy I sent back. They just assumed I would wastefully print out dozens and dozens of pages. It took until just a few years ago to get the reports available online. It’s these examples that make it hard to stomach paying more. t would be one thing if the services we received were efficient and competent. They tend to be neither.

Comment by Shemp Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 1:10 pm
I got an e-mail on 19th saying my proposal for a number of grants was due 25th, and they was providing training for our group on the 24th, so basically one day turn around time. Then I got an e-mail at 3:45 on Friday 27th, saying my proposal was due on Tuesday 31st by noon for one grant.

Comment by 13th Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 1:19 pm
Illinois is perpetually behind on so many things. We were the last or 2nd to last to get federal Neighborhood Stabilization Funds distributed. Due to the timelines to get the fed funds spent, a lot of people were put behind the 8 ball because of it. Incompetence in bureaucracy is not a new thing here.

Comment by Shemp Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 1:31 pm
It’s a shame the Press Room has been depleted. Perhaps UIS could do a study on the impact of budget crises on direct services providers at the community level, and all the nonsense they have to tolerate from the funding state agency for state agency clients. Assuming there are any direct services providers on grants or contracts after July 1st…

Comment by Capitol View Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 2:52 pm
@Last Bull Moose

$32 billion is about 89% of the originally proposed budget of about $36 billion, Moose. That means 89% of planned government spending may be funded. That’s a lot more than just K-12 and court mandated spending. Freeze everything “freezable”, don’t increase spending for any non-mandated or non-fund matching purpose, cut all non-discretionary spending and non-safety related capital spending, start no new programs and defer unfunded mandates and I suspect you’d be pretty close to hitting that $32 billion number.

Of course, I suspect that Madigan’s people wouldn’t accept a “no growth/necessity” budget because ever increasing state spending is the source of their political power.

I haven’t been able to find anything on line that would identify what could be funded under this approach. Has anyone found any group which may have prepared something like this? Sounds like something IPI should do.

Martire’s CBTA group SHOULD do this, but they’re all about tax increases, not fair and reasonable spending priorities.

Comment by Illinois Bob Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 3:27 pm
- Threepwood @ 11:59 am -

Hang in there.

Comment by Mama Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 3:27 pm
Bob:

And the IPI is fair and reasonable? Yeah, right.

Start here: budget.illinois.gov

Wade through it and then give us all your budget plan. But here’s a hint. You don’t hit your number just by doing what you suggest.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 4:09 pm
@Demoralized

Bob:

=And the IPI is fair and reasonable? Yeah, right.=

I didn’t say they were, Demoralized. I just said that Martire’s CBTA is NOT, and I stand behind that.

I’m not going to spend the hundreds of hours going through every line item myself to find the best priority spending. I’m not paid to do that, but many GA and the Guv’s staffs are, as well as the highly funded think tanks in Illinois.

Heartland is usually pretty good, but I wish there were some serious Dem leaning think tanks that can get past feeding the patronage beast and for once try to come up with a plan based upon practical needs of the people of Illinois instead of political wants.

CBTA is smart enough to do that, but they’re just tax increase advocates, NOT an instrument for better and more fairly run government.

IPI probably hasn’t come up with this because many of the fair cuts need to go against the way Rauner wants to spend, K-12 education is probably at the top of that list.

Heartland is conservative but pretty wonky. Is there a lefty version of them in Illinois?

Maybe Chamber of Commerce or BGA is working on something for the state to live on $32 billion per year, but I haven’t seen it published yet.

Comment by Illinois Bob Wednesday, Jun 1, 16 @ 4:29 pm