Illinois to fund services for disabled kids amid budget feud 2 - Story | WFLD

 

FOX 32's Mike Flannery contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois will begin paying for services to help young children with developmental disabilities and to assist seniors in their homes despite not having a budget in place and warnings from lawmakers that the state is spending billions more than it's taking in.

 

Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said Wednesday her office determined the early intervention services, provided to children up to age 3, should have been paid for under a previously issued consent decree that requires some social services be funded. In a separate action, a federal judge ruled a program that aims to help seniors avoid costly nursing home care is covered by a court order requiring state payment.

 

Politics

Illinois to fund services for disabled kids amid budget feud 2

Illinois will begin paying for services to help young children with developmental disabilities and to assist seniors in their homes despite not having a budget in place and warnings from lawmakers that the state is spending billions more than it's taking in.

Munger said she learned last week the program was "slipping through the cracks" and some providers were about to suspend programs. After consulting with attorneys, she decided payments to providers should be processed immediately and are a "relatively low amount" compared with the state's overall budget crisis.

Meanwhile, Munger is still not paying hundreds of other social service agencies, pushing them to a financial Tipping Point.

The agencies have been told to keep working and that they will be paid, if Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly ever agree on a state budget. At this point, hundreds, perhaps thousands of social service workers are losing their jobs.

Up to 70 homeless gather during the day at the South Side's Matthew House, where they can get help finding work, medical care and are served two hot meals.

“If there not here, we have nowhere to go, but on the street,” said Andre Haynes, who was released from State Prison in April.

After serving a year in state prison for selling illegal narcotics, Haynes said he had one overriding goal: never to be locked up again. He's found occasional part-time work, but not enough to be able to leave the homeless shelter.

Illinois to fund services for disabled kids amid budget feud 2 - Story | WFLD