Elgin treatment center blames Blagojevich for cuts, layoffs
SPRINGFIELD - A drug treatment center in Elgin is laying off staff members and eliminating beds because of state budget cuts, the group that runs the center announced Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois said a $1.4 million state funding cut means five staff members in Elgin have been told their jobs are being eliminated.
The cuts also mean the halfway house and residential treatment programs at the Elgin site will each eliminate one bed. That could mean as many as 38 fewer people being treated between the two programs each year.
Lutheran Social Services, one of many agencies providing counseling and treatment on behalf of the state, announced Tuesday a total of 21 staff cuts between its programs in Elgin and Chicago and urged lawmakers to restore funding.
"The impact of this is more Illinois citizens dying of drug and alcohol abuse when it's a treatable illness," said Joseph Paul, director of the BHS Center located in the 600 block of Varsity Drive in Elgin. "The overall impact - is devastating. Frankly, I feel the whole field is in danger. We've got programs that are barely going to exist."
The cuts are the result of Gov. Rod Blagojevich axing $55 million in drug and alcohol treatment program funding earlier this summer. However, the Illinois House is in session today and Thursday and likely to consider tapping up to $400 million set aside in special state accounts in order to restore specific cuts.
It's the latest budgetary back-and-forth between lawmakers and the governor that has jeopardized hundreds of jobs and dozens of programs.
This spring, lawmakers sent Blagojevich a budget nearly $2.1 billion out of whack, essentially telling the second-term Chicago Democrat it was his job to manage spending. The governor responded by vetoing out $1.3 billion so far, including $55 million for treatment programs.
A Blagojevich spokeswoman said tough choices had to be made.
"We recognize the consequences of the veto reductions, and we expressed our concerns when the House Democrats admittedly sent us an unbalanced budget with a $2.1 billion deficit. We knew that the impact would be extraordinary. That's why we urged them to approve additional revenue sources back in June. They failed to do so. These were not choices we wanted to make, but given a $2.1 billion deficit, everything was put on the table and had to be considered," said spokeswoman Kelley Quinn.
Last month, the Blagojevich administration announced 325 layoffs and the closing of two dozen state parks and historic sites.