Funding cuts fall hard on those seeking jobs in McHenry
Wolff is assistant director of the McHenry County Workforce Network
Although McHenry County is not the only county in Illinois, or the country, to experience a declining economy and subsequent job losses, perhaps too many residents are not paying attention to what is actually taking place in the county. Nor, perhaps, are those in a position to initiate some changes. And those of us working in various agencies in McHenry County -- those of us who have seen what happens to people who lose their livelihoods, financial security, homes and sometimes even families through the stress of it all -- perhaps we have not been as visible or vocal as we could be.
According to Heartland Alliance, poverty in McHenry County -- affecting over 18,000 individuals -- is up 38.1 percent since 1980. Current Illinois poverty level means an individual earning only $10,210 per year. Heartland Alliance's study shows the median household income in McHenry County has decreased $6,498 during the past six years alone, while median annual earnings have decreased $4,617. Unemployment for February 2008 was at 5.7 percent for McHenry County, a total of 10,383 unemployed workers. That figure is dramatically different when factoring in those who have exhausted unemployment benefits or have become so disheartened that they've simply stopped looking for work.
McHenry County Workforce Network exists to help dislocated and low-income workers -- those who fall in the statistics I've noted -- get the training and job search assistance they need to get back to work. The government just rescinded monies from our 2006 and 2007 budgets (both already spent legitimately on programs for customers long ago or already allocated for training and other services) and on top of that made deep cuts in our upcoming 2008 program year -- a 25 percent loss of funds. We had to close our Harvard satellite office and lay off five staff devoted to helping the unemployed. If the state does not pass its budget on time and holds up federal dollars into fall 2008, the entire staff faces layoffs late this summer. We did have services available that offered monetary support to employers through an on-the-job training program for new hires, as well as one that offered support to provide training to incumbent workers. These were eliminated.
We are all trying to cope with a dramatically changing economy and scrambling to hold onto what we've got while being slowly undermined every day. Add the loss of real wages based on inflation and ever-rising prices for essentials like food and gas to the loss of our jobs altogether, and circumstances can become overwhelming.
Workforce Network administers the Workforce Investment Act, or WIA, program which provides services for dislocated workers, low income workers, at-risk youth and employers. We administer the Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, program for workers dislocated by company moves to foreign countries. We work with staff from partner agencies to provide services in a one-stop fashion. Almost 2,000 visits were made by customers to our resource room in 2007 alone; they utilized 13,316 of our free services.
We are asking you to help us keep our program intact for the continuing inflow of dislocated workers and workers who don't meet self-sufficiency standards based on their low-wage jobs -- those who have been affected by the diminishing wage level and ever increasing poverty level aforementioned -- as well as keep our program intact for county employers who rely on cash inflow from residents with well-paying jobs. Please send your legislators a strong message to restore former funding levels to WIA workforce development programs such as ours. We have posted sample letters and an address list for state and federal legislators on our home page at www.mchenrycountyworkforce.com. Thank you.