State budget crisis forces agency to cut programs, workers

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A social services agency based in East St. Louis is suspending programs and laying off 117 workers amid the state budget impasse.

The Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/1NaXRYB ) reports that the 25-member board for the Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House voted unanimously to temporarily suspend several programs because the state is behind in issuing funds.

Executive director Bill Kreeb says the agency's most serious financial issue relates to its In-Home Services Program, which serves 300 elderly people, some of whom are the poorest and most isolated seniors in the East St. Louis area.

Kreeb says the state is only paying for Medicaid-eligible clients. He says the state owes Lessie Bates more than $500,000 for its non-Medicaid clients.

The workers learned Monday about the temporary layoffs effective April 30.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com