Social services cuts would be devastating

The Springfield budget battle continues with the focus on politicians, organized labor, the deficit and a host of issues. Unfortunately, these take center stage when the real dramas will be played out in our neighborhoods if legislators reduce funding for Illinois' human services organizations.

For Family Shelter Service clients - those affected by domestic abuse - a loss of funding could be devastating: for a mother and children trapped by violence at home, an abused senior who requires our help with an order of protection or someone who needs our counselors to get past the flashbacks that haunt them daily.

Today, many clients rely on other human services organizations to provide services we don't offer. They help our clients with housing, legal issues, careers, child care or transportation, to name a few. Will they be here tomorrow? Like a pebble in a pond, the effects of domestic violence ripple throughout the community: child witnesses to abuse who are unable to learn at school; lost workplace productivity for businesses that employ individuals impacted by domestic violence; taxpayer dollars to fund law enforcement and the judicial system; health care costs for female emergency room visits that are related to ongoing abuse.

The adults and children served by Family Shelter Service have short-term needs: a chance to get back on their feet and plan for a safer future. But with nowhere to go, a short-term problem becomes a chronic one.

Please encourage your Illinois legislators to support legislation that maintains funding for human services organizations. While the people in our community who most need help may not be front page news, their plight is no less dire. We should all do everything we can to be sure that we are protecting the most at-risk among us, before we do anything else.

Judie Caribeaux

Family Shelter Service Executive Director

Wheaton