Gov, legislature neglect those who need help most

Add comment October 8th, 2008

The damage facing the poorest and most helpless among us is catastrophic. How dare the governor and the legislature do this to those who have so little voice.

The governor signed a funding bill Tuesday that would restore more than $220 million in cuts, but he has not signed the bill that would allow that money to go to the agencies that need it.

What is he waiting for? These agencies need funding restored and they need to be paid in a timely manner so they can continue to serve people who have limited options.

PHASE/WAVE offers an example of how the governor’s cuts hurt. PHASE offers specialized treatment for people suffering various forms of chemical dependency, while WAVE provides domestic violence victims shelter and counseling. About 4,000 people a year are served.

Gary Hallbach, president and CEO of PHASE/WAVE, said his agency has not received any money from the state this fiscal year, which began in July. Hallbach said he was told it will be at least three weeks before his agency gets paid.
T
he payment delays coupled with a $285,000 budget cut — a cut that was made after the agency contracted for services — have led to positions going unfilled and two staff members being laid off.

That means fewer people are being served. Fewer people are getting help with substance abuse and fewer women and children are given shelter.

WAVE has 50 beds available, but only can fill 28 of them because of staffing issues. Hallbach said the agency had to turn away 300 people one month.

“It s going to continue to get worse unless the funding turns around,” Hallbach said. “That doesn’t appear to be the direction the state is going in.

“We use to be able to rely on money from the state. That’s not true today.”

Youth Services Network is an agency that works toward improving the quality of services to community youth and their families. YSN was established in 1982 to help impact the youth services system in Winnebago and Boone counties.

The agency will close its Belvidere office at the end of this month because it doesn’t have the money to keep it open.

YSN is 100 percent grant funded and lost $100,000 from the federal government and $300,000 from the state. The agency only has received one payment from the state this fiscal year.

The biggest cut was in the system of care program that helps keep foster children from bouncing from home to home. That program was cut 43.8 percent, which means there is less money available to mentor, tutor, counsel, drive — whatever the children and their foster parents need.

“If we don’t help the kids, we’ll be building more prisons because the kids can’t help themselves,” said Mary Ellen Commare, executive director of YSN. She pointed out that most of the children served — 130 at any given time — are 8 years old or younger.

“If we can’t serve them there will be more truants, more dropouts and more trouble,” she said. “It would save in the long run if we help these children today.”

Frank Ware, president and CEO of Janet Wattles Center, which provides mental health services, also painted a bleak picture.

“The combination of late payments ($2.2 million), cuts ($78,000) and ‘set-asides’ ($340,000) is a problem,” Ware said. “Sadly, we have no assurances that the problems are resolved. It is our understand that only a portion of the mental health cuts were included in the legislation sent to the governor.”

In a guest column that will appear in Sunday’s Opinions section, Ware calls for a summit to address the challenges nonprofit agencies face.

Perhaps the community can provide help because it’s apparent the state will not do its share.

The governor and legislature are guilty of gross negligence, irresponsibility and utter selfishness.

They’ve put petty political feuds above the common good. Shame on them.

They must fix this in the post-election session of the General Assembly. Once we lose these vital services, it will be hard to bring them back. Apparently our political “leaders” don’t listen to the agencies who work with the downtrodden because they don’t “pay to play.”

That’s disgusting.