Aug 30, 2007 10:48 am US/Central
Fight On To Save Anti-Violence Group Amid Scandal
State Audit: CeaseFire Did Not Disburse Funds Properly
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Supporters of the CeaseFire gang intervention group rallied Thursday morning to save the organization after its funding was vetoed last week by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, one of the reasons the state cut its funding is because it believes the program should be getting more money from other sources. But protesters at the Thompson Center said that should not jeopardize the program.
Hundreds of people from communities affected by gun violence came to the Thompson Center, carrying signs with such messages as, "Keep CeaseFire Alive So Our Children Won't Die," and "If You Kill CeaseFire, You Kill another Teen."
Blagojevich slashed $6.2 million for the program, which provides outreach and street-level intervention to provide gang and gun violence.
Without that money, CeaseFire says about 20 of its sites statewide are slated to close.
One mother at the protest, Angelita Santana, just last week lost her son, Emilio Miguel Torres, to gun violence, which she said was due to gang activity in the area. She said CeaseFire responded to her son's murder and prevented a retaliation killing.
"There was a gentleman who came in that was a representative for CeaseFire and actually talked to a family member that was affiliated with gangs, and he came in and he actually prevented a family member from doing the same thing that happened to my son, so a mother didn't go through the grief that I went through, and CeaseFire intervened in that area."
But a state audit questioned how effective CeaseFire is, and found that the group did not handle appropriately some of the $11 million it received from the state from 2004 to 2006.
The audit said, insufficient diligence by the program staff "led us to question $371,000 in reimbursements to community partners."
The audit indicated that more than $1 million in state money budgeted to CeaseFire to combat anti-violence efforts in East St. Louis and elsewhere downstate never reached those places.
In East St. Louis, that meant a $30,000 reduction in the $250,000 the state had budgeted for the local CeaseFire program last year. Administrator Robert Eastern says that money would have covered the cost of an outreach worker.
Project Director Gary Slutkin says the 12-year-old program expanded too quickly statewide and that led to administrative mistakes that need to be corrected.
But Blagojevich's office said this was enough to change funding
"Without other significant sources of funding, and in light of concerns raised in the recent Illinois audit about the organization, we decided continued funding for CeaseFire was not a top state priority," said governor's office spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff.
Slutkin said he agreed the organization needs more funding from other sources, but the data support that the program is effective. He said there was no misuse of funds.
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