Jul 1, 2009 6:33 pm US/Central
Social Service Agencies Squeezed In Budget Woes
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Boxes of client files pile up at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities offices. Social workers have been fired or are on furlough as the funds to pay them remains in question without an Illinois budget.
CBS
Social workers Keith and Sabrina George are enduring an unwanted summer break, courtesy of our dithering Springfield politicians.
The Illinois budget expired July 1, and Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed the bare-bones budget lawmakers gave him.
Quinn wants a tax increase to pay for the full budget, but he doesn't have the support for it. Now, legislative leaders may consider overriding the governor's veto.
But while this tug of war continues in Springfield, people all over the state are stuck, waiting to find out about their future.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports a number of social service agencies around the state are already feeling the squeeze. Some are holding off a couple of weeks, hoping for a budget resolution, before making cuts.
Others say they simply can't wait, which is why the Georges are suffering right now.
Sabrina's been laid off. And Keith is on a 14-day unpaid furlough, his job future uncertain. It's a devastating one-two punch for the couple.
The Georges both work for Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC), an agency that was used by the courts to divert non-violent convicts with addiction problems away from prison, to probation and treatment.
But Tuesday, after Illinois failed to pass a budget, the agency laid off 50 workers and furloughed 150 more for two weeks.
Asked the status of those 150 furloughed employees, TASC Executive VP Peter Palanca said, "We don't know, given the uncertainty of the budget, given what's going on. It's anyone's guess what's going to happen."
As a result, the office is deserted. Rows and rows of empty desks, and boxes piled high with files of clients who aren't being helped.
"We've been trying to get that message to the legislature," TASC VP Carolyn Ross said. "Without treatment, people who are active in addiction will commit crimes because that's the way they feed their addiction."
Meantime, the Georges worry about how to keep food on their table, pay their mortgage, and keep their two kids in summer camp.
Keith George is hoping to hang onto his job – if state lawmakers can agree on a budget by July 16. That's the new ultimate deadline because that's the date on which state workers are scheduled to receive their first paychecks for the new fiscal year. A lot of jobs and services are hanging in the balance.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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