Governor Quinn wants to close seven state facilities, lay off 1,900

[The Northerner]

Gov. Pat Quinn today moved to lay off more than 1,900 state workers and close seven state facilities as part of a plan to cut the state budget.

The governor sought to blame state lawmakers for giving him a state budget that was $2.2 billion less than he wanted.

"Members of the General Assembly cannot run away from what they did in the spring," Quinn said. "Some of them patted themselves on the back for it."

"It's time for a rendezvous with reality," he added.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-quinn-wants-to-close-six-state-facilities-20110908,0,6809522.story

[mucifer]

1. It is very ugly blago and the dems in the state legislature and

the republicans in the past have been spending way too much. But, Gov Quinn did increase taxes on the rich and everyone else. There still just isn't much money in our state.

[rug]

2. And of course its facilities for some of the state's neediest.

"The administration is seeking to close mental health centers in southwest suburban Tinley Park, Rockford and downstate Chester. The governor also is seeking to close facilities for the developmentally disabled in downstate and the Illinois Youth Center at Murphysboro and Logan Correctional Center."

Not a prison on the list.

[Drale]

5. The Mental Health Center in Tinley Park is already 90% closed

Most of the buildings are bored up and as far as I can tell only one office building is still in use.

[jwirr]

10. We in MN did this years ago and we are doing very well - this from

a mother of one of the clients who was abused no less than six times in the wonderful institutions and not once since we took her out. I have also been an advocate for this group for years. I lobbied to get the institutions in MN shut down. And I worked as a social worker to bring all of our clients home. I think there is still one or two institutions still open here. Community based services are what parents and clients want. We have worked for it since the early 1960s. For the reasoning behind this move read a book called "Normalization" about the fate of this group in Nazi Germany and what the communities throughout Europe were now doing to see that it never happened again.

Now what you should be watching is if the governor is accompanying this shut down with the laws and regulations to insure that the community based system will be supervised and regulated to keep abuse down. Unfortunately, there was a conflict of interest when the states both owned the institutions and investigated any abuse. We did it and it works. If the governor is simply privatizing the whole program without government over site then it is a bad idea.

Yes, the workers who are laid off will suffer but the institutions they ran are "prisons" if you happen to be one of the clients that are placed there without being given options and without your consent. You are held there and your family cannot just visit as they please and they cannot take you home for a visit whenever you/they want. Your entire life is controlled by strangers. Relatives often live miles away and if the family happens to be poor they find it almost impossible to visit. One of the first things we found when our county removed all of our clients was that when ever we spoke with them they were afraid of being sent back. By the way when the clients move into the community there are a whole new range of jobs working with them that opens up - these workers are qualified for these jobs.

Just a story about the institution where my daughter was held. I was setting on a bench at the mall when I heard two women talking about being angry about the closure. They were talking about all the jobs lost. Needless to say I wanted to tell them they should have kept my daughter safe and she might still be there but I did not. Also what they were really upset about was that the state had turned the institution into a real prison for sexual offenders and they were afraid. With reason. Had they made sure that my child and a lot of others were not sexually abused things might have been a lot different. For her and them.

I do not speak for the mentally ill but since I had one family member die in an institution (due to the genetics movement) and another placed there when she did not have to be (later lived out the end of her life in our community) and a brother who now lives in the community I think that the same thing applies to many of those who are called mentally ill. With the mentally ill who are violent community based services may not work but many are never violent.

[sweetapogee]

3. start protesting

call for a general strike

[jwirr]

11. If you are going to protest this move you should be aware that you

are protesting the parents and guardians of this group who have worked to set up community based care since the 60s. Google the ARC and see what they have to say.

[Tatiana]

4. Not really Quinn's fault. Madigan and his ilk F'ed the state over years ago.

This is going to be diastrous, though. Our state's economy is really floundering and our unemployment is way too high.

[Drale]

6. Quinn is in a really tight spot

He's damn if he does and he's damned if he doesn't, even though 100% of the problems where created by the former governor and the idiots like Madigan in the State legislator.

[Tatiana]

7. Exactly. He's already increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations plus the middle class.

The additional funds he requested from the legislature were not approved. At this point, Quinn is trying to get our credit rating back up while maintaining some semblance of financial solvency. I hate that services have been cut. He even eliminated the regional superintendents of public schools to save additional money (and now they are suing him). What is he supposed to do if the legislature won't appropriate the funds?

[madrchsod]

9. i do know that my republican state senator is hearing an earful...

there`s one facility in his district that could be on the block...a very important one.

[madrchsod]

8. looks like every facility on the block is in a republican district...

i just received august-sept issue of MOVE from afscme council 31. needless to say we are pissed off at quinn for this bullshit. one article was about the youth facilities in illinois. one had 50 workers going to the hospital each year because of violent attacks .
i guess he can find room in the other prison for the 1900 prisoners at logan. one facility that may be on the chopping block could actually result in deaths.


we shared in the sacrifice while democrats and the republicans are in a pissing contest.

[jwirr]

12. I understand your issue as a union member but I wonder if any of

you have ever looked at it from the point of view of the families and clients who want their families in the community instead of miles away. Have any of you been to the ARC - the organization of parents that has been the force behind the movement out of the institutions? We have been working to get better care for our children since the 60s - I personally since 1958 when my child was born. She spent 7 months in an institution and was abused six times. When I took them on I did not stand alone - other parents came ahead to tell the same kind of stories. Do you care what the people you work with want?

[KharmaTrain]

13. Our Private Institution Funding Was Slashed As Well

Can't make money appear from nowhere. The combination of the boooosh tax cuts that destroyed the state tax base 10 years ago couple with collapsed and depressed real estate values and depressed retail tax revenues and that begins to paint the financial mess this governor and state are facing. Sadly too many needy and not enough money...unless you want to take it from roads or schools or public safety. There's no easy choices here.

I have a handicapped family member and work with a private center that, while mostly privately funded, did get a nice chunk of change from the state. That money started to vanish a couple years ago and no matter how hard we've lobbied, we're told the money just isn't there. Fortunately our private donors picked up the shortfall...and that the money they didn't spend on our facility went to one that was much needier. Now there's not enough for them either. A sad commentary of the times we live in.