Illinois Department of Human Services’ Proposed 2008 Fiscal Year Budget: Some Increases, Flat Funding for Most Programs

The proposed 2008 fiscal year budget for the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) features some significant program increases but continued flat funding for most programs. The Blagojevich administration’s continued practice of flat funding most programs equates to a cut in services since failing to adjust for inflation means that the proposed funding levels will not support the same level of services as in the current year. In response, programs must reduce the number of needy people who receive services, increase the cost of those services to the low-income population that they serve, or lower the quality of services provided, often by denying staff cost-of-living salary increases and leading to turnover.

The 2008 fiscal year is the second year of the Service Employees International Union Local 660’s three-year contract with Illinois; the contract provides major reimbursement rate increases for home child care providers. The proposed budget has large parity increases in child care center rates. The proposed budget allocates funding to start a tiered reimbursement program for child care providers and pay premiums for attaining defined benchmarks of higher-quality care; full funding for the Great Start (Strategy to Attract and Retain Teachers) wage supplement program and immediate removal of the waiting list that has been in effect since July 1, 2006; and the first down payment on health insurance coverage for home child care providers. The projected cost of these program improvements is $66 million, half of which is offset by the governor’s projections that the number of children in the child care assistance program will shrink by 2 percent in the 2008 fiscal year.

The proposed budget earmarks $13.3 million needed to institute changes resulting from the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. These changes include more staffing, technology upgrades, more support for IDHS contractors, and other measures needed to comply with the much more intensive activity requirements and participation monitoring that the federal government is imposing on state TANF programs.

The proposed budget funds a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for programs in the Community Health and Prevention Division; these programs include early intervention, family case management, school-based health centers, domestic violence, family planning, sexual assault, and intensive prenatal services. There is also funding through the Division of Rehabilitation Services for 3 percent COLAs for Centers for Independent Living and Lekoteks (play libraries and resource centers for children with special needs) and a $1 per hour increase for personal assistants.

The proposed budget allots $30 million in funding above the 2007 fiscal year levels for Division of Mental Health initiatives, including $7 million for the individual care grant program, $5.4 million to support an administrative service organization to further the move from a community-based grant system to fee-for-service, $3.9 million to expand supportive housing services to persons who experience mental illness or homelessness or both, $2.7 million to serve an increasing population at the treatment and detention facility, $6.6 million to expand forensic capacity, $1.7 million to procure additional professional staff to shorten stays for the forensic population, and $2.7 million for a quality review and training team charged with enhancing services provided to clients in mental health facilities and thereby helping comply with federal and state law.

For more information, contact Dan lesser, danlesser@povertylaw.org.