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Press Releases

Last Updated: Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Saving human service programming for Illinois’ neediest

Lack of adequate funding for behavioral health services threatens to keep care from those in need
June 16, 2009

(Dixon, IL) Imagine you were facing a 50-percent cut in your family income and you had to decide what you could and couldn’t provide for your children.  What would that be like?

Now imagine the plight hundreds of agencies are facing in trying to continue providing services to thousands of their clients while being told their state funding will be cut in half starting July 1st.  What would that look like?

The future of human service programs in Illinois are again in jeopardy, with many scheduled for deep slashes, as the state tries to cope with a projected $11.6 billion dollar deficit.

Earlier this spring, the Illinois General Assembly adopted a budget agreement that will provide only 50% of funding for human service programs. During the last week, agency heads from the Illinois Departments of Mental Health, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Children and Family Services, and Developmentally Disabled informed provider agencies of deep cuts in funding or elimination of funding altogether. In total, the state agencies of the Department of Human Services need to slash $2.20 billion from programs.

Locally, Sinnissippi Centers is facing a slash of $2.0 million dollars, or nearly 25% of the agency’s funding for the next fiscal year.

“This will have a devastating effect on the men, women and children that we serve,” explains Jim Sarver, president and CEO for Sinnissippi Centers. “These are truly the state’s neediest individuals. They simply cannot afford to pay full fee for these services. They need assistance from the state to receive these services. If the state budget is implemented as is, this vital assistance will not be available to help these individuals.”

During fiscal year 2008, Sinnissippi Centers served 7,294 individuals. Sinnissippi expects to serve a similar number of people during the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2009.

“A reduction in funding from the state of Illinois will greatly reduce those that we and other human service providers serve here in Illinois,” states Sarver. “Who we serve and how services are provided will greatly change.” 

Those adults and adolescents who receive help from Sinnissippi Centers for a substance use disorder will go without treatment services.

“Without state funding, many individuals with a substance use disorder will not be served,” adds Natalie Andrews, director of addiction services for Sinnissippi Centers. “This includes the adolescent who is returning from inpatient treatment and needs follow up in the community they live in to help stay sober and clean.”

Individuals with a mental illness will also feel the affect of funding cuts, if they’re implemented.

“Whether it’s an adult or child client, mental health treatment services provide a valuable outreach to these individuals and their families,” explains Clyde Lipp, director of family services for Sinnissippi Centers.  “The impact of these budget cuts on the youngest of our participants will be devastating for our communities. Early childhood is of critical importance for supporting families and ensuring social and emotional health and wellness.  The research clearly documents the positive outcomes of early childhood programming for reducing the rates of child abuse and neglect and promoting healthy brain development.”

“During the first three years of life, the brain builds the foundation for healthy relationships, the capacity to manage stress, and the ability to express emotions in healthy ways. Young children who do not receive needed early intervention and mental health services have significantly higher rates of learning difficulties,
developmental delays, peer conflicts, and poor emotional control.  They are also at higher risk for later delinquency, substance abuse, and mental illness.” 

“Early intervention and treatment programs have been proven to reduce the rates of child abuse and neglect and promote healthy outcomes for children and families.  Young children who do not receive necessary services now will have more problems in the future while causing unnecessary suffering and adding additional costs for the family and the community to deal with these problems later.”

One of the other line items that is being threatened with funding elimination is assistance to help pay for services provided by psychiatrists.

“Even if we are able to provide counseling, we won’t be able to have anyone prescribe medications so they will essentially go untreated,” adds Kim James, director of area offices for Sinnissippi Centers. “This mean the individual with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder or Depression will continue to experience disturbing hallucinations, severe mood swings, be unable to work, unable to get help and may ultimately commit suicide or engage in illegal activities thus filling our jails with individuals who are ill, not criminals.”

Clients of Sinnissippi Centers aren’t the only ones who will be affected. Staff will also be impacted.

“We are now seriously looking at staffing needs for our individual programs,” states Sarver. “We have already notified one staff that he will be laid off. Will there be additional layoffs? I don’t think we have that answer yet.”

“What we know is that the Illinois mental health care and drug treatment system is in a slow motion bankruptcy because of the failure of the state to adequately fund care. Since 2002, behavioral health agencies in Illinois have experienced a 23% rise in expenses, while overall state human service funding has increased by only 3-7%,” adds Sarver. 

It’s estimated that 100,000 human service professionals will lose their jobs if the so-called “partial” budget is implemented as planned.

If you would like to add your voice in support of adequate mental health and substance abuse treatment funding, contact the Governor’s office, Senate and House Leadership and your local legislators.

Governor Pat Quinn
207 Statehouse
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0244
Email: http://illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm

Representative Michael Madigan
Speaker of the House
300 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL  62706
(217) 782-5350
Email: mmadigan@hds.ilga.gov

Representative Tom Cross
House Republican Leader
84th House District
24047 West Lockport Street, Suite 213
Plainfield, IL 60544
(815) 254-0000
Email: tom@tomcross.com

Senator Christine Radogno
Senate Minority Leader
41st Senate District
410 Main Street
Lemont, IL 60439
(630) 243-0800
Email: cradogno@sbcglobal.net

Senator John Cullerton
President of the Senate
327 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-2728
Email: john@johncullerton.com

Community care system in a “slow motion bankruptcy”

Lack of adequate funding for behavioral health services threatens to keep care from those in need
May 13, 2009

(Dixon, IL) Without tapping cash from a dormant state health fund and without money from some form of tax increase to stage a financial rescue, more than 3,000 adults and children in northern Illinois will not receive the mental health and substance abuse treatment they need, according to a new survey of behavioral health care providers.

The Community Behavioral Healthcare Association (CBHA) survey of the state’s top 80 mental health and drug treatment providers revealed that agencies – without an increase in state funding – will serve 16,000 fewer adults and children statewide, including 3,000 in northern Illinois.

“The Illinois mental health care and drug treatment system is in a slow motion bankruptcy because of the failure of the state to adequately fund care,” states Jim Sarver of Sinnissippi Centers.

“It is estimated that our agency will serve 878 fewer clients between now and July 2010 because of the current level of state funding. Of those 878 individuals, 585 are adults and 293 are children who will go without the necessary services; that is a steep human toll.” 

“Sinnissippi is going to do what we have done during past difficult times; we will work together to engage client, staff, administration and our board to develop ways to address the ever changing fiscal environment we operate in,” adds Sarver.

Sinnissippi Centers is not alone in feeling the effects of this funding shortfall.  The impact of the cuts will mean elimination or severe reductions in services to an estimated 3,000 adults and children through the five mental health centers in the Northern Illinois which include; Ben Gordon Center in DeKalb; Freeport Health Network’s Family Counseling Center in Freeport; North Central Behavioral Health Systems in the seven counties around La Salle Peru; Sinnissippi Centers, which serves Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties; and Stepping Stones in Rockford.

 “The Rockford community should know that we are taking every step to protect the services to individuals seeking mental health care, but the proposed cuts would result in the loss of services for adults and youth that we serve,” says Frank Ware, CEO of Janet Wattles Center. “We at Janet Wattles will work to insure that those requiring the most intensive care can still receive it and that emergency services are able to respond to those in psychiatric crisis.”

 “I have people seeking service who can not get a first appointment until August,” states Dan Neal, CEO of Freeport Health Network’s Family Counseling Center. “How many of these people will be able to hang on that long without care? How can anyone accept that this is a humane and reasonable system of care?”

The Solution
“The State has about $49 million in a special mental health trust fund that continues to be a target for being swept into the general fund and used elsewhere in the state budget,” according to Sarver.  “In addition, CBHA has recommended that the legislators consider a small increase in the tax on alcohol which would provide in the area of $254 million for mental health, substance abuse, and the state’s general revenue fund.”

Other funds could come from the federal government’s stimulus payment to Illinois, which would likely be made, at least in part, with an increase in the Medicaid rate for Illinois of 6.2 %.  That would also place millions of dollars in the funding picture. At this time however, it is apparently planned that the state will allocate those stimulus dollars for other purposes. This may be capped with the tentative plan to cut up to 15% of the non Medicaid money from providers’ contracts for 2010.

“Even aside from the current national and state crisis, recent history tells the story of the growing gap in funding versus the need for behavioral healthcare.”

“If you look at the history of funding behavioral healthcare services in Illinois, there is a significant disparity. Since 2002, behavioral health agencies in Illinois have experienced a 23% rise in expenses, while overall state human service funding has increased by 3-7%,” adds Sarver. 

“The loss of care is an ongoing tragedy that can still be avoided if Governor Pat Quinn and lawmakers decide to use the dedicated but dormant special funds for their intended purposes and allow providers to keep the Medicaid increases they have already earned instead of using them in the general fund, or, by passing some form of a tax increase.”

If you would like to add your voice in support of adequate mental health and substance abuse treatment funding, contact the Governor’s office and your local legislators.

Revealing the Artist Within

8th Annual Art & Photography Exhibit May 15 & 16, 2009
May 10, 2009

(Sterling, IL) A picture is worth a thousand words.  Whether it is a photograph, a painting or another work of art; when you look closely, that art reveals much about the soul, the spirit and the voice of the artist who created it.

“Revealing the Artist Within” is the theme for the 8th Annual Art & Photography Exhibit, which will be held Friday May 15, 2009 10:00 am - 9:00 pm and Saturday May 16, 2009 10:00 am - 5:00 pm at the Northland Mall in Sterling.

“The Art & Photography Exhibit is held in the month of May, which is Mental Health Month, primarily for two reasons,” says Andy Jackson, marketing specialist:  “To continue to increase awareness about mental health issues while decreasing the stigma that still exists around mental illness, and to celebrate the talents of the artists within the ‘Sinnissippi community’.  Viewing the many and varied individual works of art and photography can demonstrates the therapeutic benefits of, and the important connection between, creative expression and good mental wellness.”

95 artists have submitted over 250 pieces for the event including paintings, photographs, poetry, sculpture, and other art items.

The Art & Photography Exhibit will also include live art demonstrations from local artists Debb and Rick Munson and Linda Von Holten as well as light refreshments and a drawing of prizes for those who attend the exhibit and register for the drawing.  There is no cost for admission.  Exhibit Hours are:

Friday May 16, 2008 > 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Saturday May 17, 2008 > 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

On Friday at the exhibit, The Better Living Focus Group will hold a bake sale and white elephant sale fundraiser from 10:00am to 2:00pm.  The consumer support group sponsors and promotes overall well-being and seeks to facilitate mental health awareness.  Proceeds from the sale will benefit the group’s regular planned activities.

Also at the exhibit, tenants of Sinnissippi Centers’ Sterling Apartments, a supervised living facility, will conduct their own fundraiser selling “Smart Snacks” on Friday from 4:00 - 7:00 pm and Saturday 10:00am - 1:00 pm.  This fundraiser will benefit their regular planned activities.

“In addition to having the exhibit at Sterling’s Northland Mall, The Next Picture Show (113 West First Street) has graciously agreed to offer space in the gallery,” adds Jackson.  “We are able to display around three dozen of the items that are being shown at the overall exhibit.  The pieces have been on display at the gallery since May 1st and will remain on display at The Next Picture Show (other than when they will join the larger exhibit at the mall May 15 & 16) through June 6, 2009.  Among those pieces are three life sized sculptures of members of a blues band which were all fashioned from found items.

“Because of the size and weight of the sculptures, they will be staying at The Next Picture Show and will not be shown at the larger exhibit at the Northland Mall on the 15th and 16th.  However, anyone can come to the Next Picture Show now through June 6th to view them.”

The Art & Photography Exhibit is sponsored by Sinnissippi Centers and the Sinnissippi Foundation.  For information call Andy Jackson at 815-284-6611.

Nearly 900 Sinnissippi Clients Could Lose Their Mental Health Services by 2010

Advocates Seek Funding from Idle Health fund, Quinn Tax Hike
May 6, 2009

(Dixon, IL) Without tapping cash from a dormant state health fund and money from some form of tax increase to stage a financial rescue, more than 3,000 adults and children in the northern Illinois area stand to lose mental health services by July 2010 according to a new survey of community behavioral health care providers in Illinois.

The new survey of the State’s top 80 mental health and drug treatment providers by the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association (CBHA) revealed that agencies – without any increased state funding – will eliminate care for a total of 16,000 adults and children statewide between July 2008 and July 2010, including 3,000 in northern Illinois.

“The Illinois mental health care and drug treatment system is in a slow motion bankruptcy because of the failure of the state to adequately fund care,” states Jim Sarver of Sinnissippi Centers. “Our agency will serve close to 878 fewer clients between now and July 2010; 585 adults and 293 children will go without the necessary services and that is a steep human toll.” 

“Sinnissippi is going to do what we have done during past difficult times; we will work together to engage client, staff. Administration and our board to develop ways to address the ever changing fiscal environment we operate in,” adds Sarver.

Sinnissippi Centers is not alone in feeling the effects of this funding shortfall.  The impact of the cuts will mean elimination or severe reductions in services to about an estimated 3,000 adults and children through the five mental health centers in the Northern Illinois area which include; Ben Gordon Center in Dekalb, Freeport Health Network’s Family Counseling Center in Freeport, North Central Behavioral Health Systems in the seven counties around La Salle Peru, Sinnissippi Centers, which serves Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties, and Stepping Stones in Rockford.

 “The Rockford community should know that we are taking every step to protect the services to individuals seeking mental health care, but the proposed cuts would result in the loss of services for adults and youth that we serve,” Frank Ware, CEO of Janet Wattles Center says.  “We at Janet Wattles will work to insure that those requiring the most intensive care can still receive it and that emergency services are able to respond to those in psychiatric crisis.”

 “I have people seeking service who can not get a first appointment until August. How many of these people will be able to hang on that long without care?” according to Dan Neal, CEO of Freeport Health Network’s Family Counseling Center.  “How can anyone accept that this is a humane and reasonable system of care?”

The Solution
“The State has about $49 million in a special mental health trust fund that continues to be a target for being swept into the general fund and used elsewhere in the State budget,” according to Stephen Langley of Stepping Stones, a non-profit agency that provides housing and rehabilitation services to adults with serious mental illnesses in the Rockford area.

“In addition, CBHA has recommended that the legislators consider a small increase in the tax on alcohol which would provide in the area of $90 million for mental health, substance abuse, and veteran’s care,” adds Langley.

Langley also points out that the federal government stimulus to Illinois would likely be made, at least in part, with an increase in the Medicaid rate for Illinois of 6.2 % which would also place millions of dollars in the funding picture. At this time however, it is apparently planned that the state will take that money for other purposes. This may be capped with the tentative plan to cut up to 15% of the non Medicaid money from providers’ contracts for 2010. This would cost Stepping Stones, along with this year’s cuts, close to a $230,000 reduction in next year’s budget.

“When one looks at the historical picture in State funding for behavioral healthcare services since 2002 there is a disparity of 3-7% funding increases against a rise in expenses of 23%,” adds Langley.  “Even aside from the current national and State crisis, the history tells the story of the ‘slow motion bankruptcy’ in behavioral healthcare.”

“The loss of care is an ongoing tragedy that can still be avoided if the Governor and legislators decide to use the dedicated but dormant special funds for their intended purposes and allow providers to keep the Medicaid increases they have already earned instead of using them in the general fund, or, passes some form of tax increase,” says Frank Anselmo of CBHA.

Internationally Known Artist to Appear at Expressions Art Sale

Raphael Iaccarino will appear Thursday and Friday at the Next Picture Show
April 20, 2009

(Dixon, IL) Internationally known artist, composer and educator, Raphael Iaccarino, has agreed to create an original painting at the Next Picture Show for the Expressions Art Sale and Reception.  Once the piece is finished it will join the forty plus art items for sale.

“Iaccarino, who is from Davenport, is internationally known for his very large watercolors and murals.  His murals have been painted on numerous businesses, schools, museums and even private homes,” according to Greg Gates, marketing manager.  “Others may have seen him on WQPT, the public television station in the Quad Cities.  He regularly interviews other artists for featured programs on WQPT.”

Iaccarino will begin painting Thursday at The Next Picture Show.  He will start with a blank canvas, and create and finish an original piece by the time the reception portion of the event begins this Friday, April 24th, at 6:00 p.m.

In addition to the more than 40 pieces of art, Expressions also features over 20 silent auction items.  Both art and silent auction items are on display now through the end of Expressions at the Next Picture Show, 113 West First Street in Dixon.

The reception portion of the event takes place at the gallery from 6:00 to 9:00pm Friday April 24, 2009.

For more information on Expressions call Greg Gates at 815-284-9380. 

Expressions of Help for Others

Annual art event benefits Sinnissippi Foundation
March 26, 2009

(Dixon, IL) The works of over 40 artists as well as 20 silent auction items will be featured at the Sinnissippi Foundation’s 5th annual Expressions Art Sale and Reception.

Co-sponsored by Sauk Valley Bank, Expressions begins on April 13th with the display of all art and silent auction items at The Next Picture Show in Dixon (113 West First Street). The items will remain on display through the reception portion of the event at The Next Picture Show which is Friday, April 24th from 6:00 to 9:00pm.

 “If someone is interested in buying one of the pieces of artwork, or placing a bid on a silent auction item, they don’t have to wait until our reception on April 24th. They can do so any time that The Next Picture Show is open from April 13 leading up through the reception,” according to Greg Gates, marketing manager.

The silent auction will conclude at 8:00 p.m. on the evening of April 24th.  Some of the items featured in the silent auction include:  A football autographed by the 2008 Green Bay Packers, items autographed by Brad Paisley, a family package to Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells, a portable DVD player and tickets to Cubs and White Sox games.

Proceeds from Expressions support the work of the Sinnissippi Foundation.

To date, artists whose work will be featured in the Expressions Art Sale include:  Ellen Allen, Les Allen, George Aune, Salem Barker, Jacci Lyn Beard, Thomas Broadfoot, Graydon Cafarella, Kimberly Clark, Willard Clay, Mary Crebo, Judy Dixon, Jane Cress Edgar, Denise Funfsinn, Beverly Garcia, Larry Gaskill, Barbara Grant, Carolyn Handy, Treva Haney, Katie Heisinger, Linda Von Holten, Raphael Iaccarino, Charles Kerr, Stephen Lang, Lisa Higby LeFevre, Bob Logsdon, Todd Lorenc, Thomas D. Mangelsen, Phil Mattox, Joy Meyer, Doris Milne, Debra Munson, Rick Munson, Erin Nolan, Harry Nurmet, Ann Marie Potts, Shane Pulgarin, Jim Riesberg, Dan Royer, Tamara Shriver, Debbie Thompson, and Brad Walker.

For more information on Expressions call Greg Gates at 815-284-9380. 

Bill Aims to Speed Payment to state’s healthcare providers

State House panel approves plan:  Illinois House vote expected soon
March 4, 2009

(Springfield, IL) New legislation proposed in the Illinois House of Representatives, if passed and signed into law, would result in more timely payments to the some of the state’s healthcare providers.

The House State Government Administration Committee on February 25 voted 17-0 to approve House Bill 616, sponsored by State Rep. Beth Coulson (R-Glenview).  Coulson’s Bill aims to speed payments to Illinois mental health, developmental disabilities and drug treatment providers struggling under the weight of a backlog of unpaid state bills.

“Local community health care providers, who are helping people to deter suicide, forestall family violence, or care for disabled children, are withering on the financial vine because they are not getting paid on time,” said Jim Sarver, Sinnissippi Centers President and CEO.

“We have heard reports of these providers who are only two or three weeks shy of disbanding care and shutting their doors because the state is 90 days 120 days late paying its bills,“ said Sarver.

“We know that some Behavioral health care organizations are on the brink of collapse in multiple communities around the state.  While Sinnissippi Centers is fortunate enough to currently be on a more solid financial footing, more timely payments can only help all mental health, developmental disabilities and drug treatment providers in the state.”

Coulson’s legislation requires the Comptroller to give priority to mental health, developmental disabilities, and drug treatment providers after the state’s debt service obligations and payroll have been met.

The bill’s bipartisan co-sponsors include local 70th District State Representatives Bob Pritchard in addition to LaShawn Ford, Daniel Beiser, Thomas Holbrook, Mike Smith, Patricia Bellock, Jim Watson, Rosemary Mulligan, Lisa Dugan, Jim Sacia, Greg Harris, Kay Hatcher, Fred Crespo, Mike Bost, Sandra Pihos, Dan Reitz, Jack Franks, Suzanne Bassi and Lou Lang.

Expressions of Help for Others

Annual art event benefits Sinnissippi Foundation
February 11, 2009

(Dixon, IL) The pen, goes an old adage, is mightier than the sword. But the paint brush also has the power to make change.

The Sinnissippi Foundation is again hosting the Expressions Art Sale, this year on Friday, April 24, 2009 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at The Next Picture Show in Dixon (113 West First Street).

"There are a few changes to this year's fundraiser," states Greg Gates, marketing manager, "but once again there will be a significant selection of art work from regional and national artists, with the sale of that art work benefiting the Foundation."

"The most significant change this year is the addition of Sauk Valley Bank as a co-sponsor of the fundraiser," explains Gates. "This is a welcome addition, and a relationship that we look forward to continuing for years to come."

Proceeds from this year's event will help the Foundation create "Project First Hour," a financial assistance fund for clients in need.

In addition to the sale of quality art work, proceeds will also be generated through a silent auction of various items. The silent auction will conclude the evening of April 24th.  Some of the items featured in the silent auction include:  A football autographed by the 2008 Green Bay Packers, items autographed by Brad Paisley, a family package to Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells, a portable DVD player and tickets to Cubs and White Sox games.

To date, artists whose work will be featured in the Expressions Art Sale include: Ellen Allen, Les Allen, George Aune, Salem Barker, Jaccilyn Beard, Graydon Cafarella, Kimberly Clark, Willard Clay, Mary Crebo, Judy Dixon, Jane Cress Edgar, Beverly Garcia, Larry Gaskill, Carolyn Handy, Treva Haney, Katie Heisinger, Lisa Higby-LeFevre, Raphael Iaccarino, Charles Kerr, Bob Logsdon, Todd Lorenc, Thomas Mangelsen, Phil Mattox, Joy Meyer, Doris Milne, Debra Munson, Rick Munson, Ann Marie Potts, Shane Pulgarin, Harry Nurmet, Jim Riesberg, Dan Royer, Jane Sheaffer, Tamara Shriver, Debbie Thompson, and Brad Walker.

Art and silent auction items will go on display Monday April 13, 2009 at the Next Picture Show.

For more information on Expressions call Greg Gates at 815-284-9380.  

Illinois Senator Tim Bivins Scheduled to Attend Consumer Group Meeting

Better Living Focus Group meets Thursday October 9, 2008 at Sinnissippi Centers
September 26, 2008

(Dixon, IL) A state senator and a professional speaker and author are among those scheduled to attend the next Better Living Focus Group meeting to be held Thursday October 9, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Sinnissippi Centers’ training center (325 Illinois Route 2, Dixon, IL).

“Illinois State Senator Tim Bivins is expected to join our meeting at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 9th,” according to Janice Madding, secretary of the Better Living Focus Group.  “He will speak briefly on topics important to the group and then be available to take questions from the meeting participants.  We are extremely pleased that he has decided to come,” adds Madding.

In addition professional speaker and author Denny Ferguson will also attend the meeting and make a presentation.  Ferguson is the author of Bi-Polarism My 2nd Chance At Life Under the Blue Moon and has spoken on numerous occasions to groups about his experiences with Bi-Polar Disorder.  Ferguson will share his own journey dealing with his Bi-Polar Disorder and how he maintains a positive outlook on life.

The Better Living Focus Group is a group of behavioral healthcare consumers that sponsor and promote overall well being, in particular, mental well-being.  Manning says, “Our goal is to foster a warm supportive community where ideas are shared, concerns are listened to, and to have a place where members and visitors alike can come together to facilitate mental health awareness.”  The group also strives to reduce the stigma that is often associated with mental illness, substance use issues, and other behavioral health issues.

For more information, contact Andy Jackson, Sinnissippi Centers marketing specialist, at 815-284-6611.

Final Outcome of Proposed Funding Cuts to Human Services Not Known

Senate and Governor yet to play their final parts in budget impasse
September 17, 2008

(Dixon, IL) Who won’t receive the help they need?  That is the question many individuals and organizations in northwest Illinois, as well as the rest of the state, continue to ask in light of the proposed funding cuts to human service agencies by Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The Illinois House voted last week to restore most of the funding cuts, as an $85.5 million appropriations bill and a $221 million “sweeps” measure were both approved.  However, the final outcome is still in doubt.  The Illinois Senate and ultimately the Governor will still have to approve restoration of the cuts. But at this time Senate President Emil Jones seems unwilling to call the Senate back to Springfield for a special session to take action.

“While we don’t know what ultimately is going to happen, what we do know right now is that if the cuts remain intact, there will be a roughly $260,000 impact felt by Sinnissippi Centers,” explains Jim Sarver, President and CEO of Sinnissippi.  “That includes cuts to our contracts with the Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA), the Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Department of Community Health and Prevention (DCHP), and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).”

“The repercussions of funding cuts to our programming and that of other human service agencies will have a very real and significant impact on children, adolescents, adults, and families.  The impacts are already being felt across the State of Illinois.  They are being felt by the very people who need these services the most,” adds Sarver.

Individuals who are concerned about the proposed cuts to human services programs are asked to contact the Governor’s office and Senate President Emil Jones’ office to request that they return to Springfield and approve the House Measure that will restore cuts to human services.

Governor Rod Blagojevich                              Senate President Emil Jones                 
Office of the Governor                                    District Office
207 Statehouse                                             507 West 111th Street
Springfield, IL 62706                                      Chicago, IL 60628                 
(217) 782-0244                                             (773) 995-7748
Email:  governor@state.il.us                           Email: jones@senatedem.state.il.us        
                                              

Sinnissippi Centers is a behavioral healthcare agency serving Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties.  For more information about programs and services, call Sinnissippi toll-free at 1-800-242-7642. Sinnissippi has office locations in Dixon, Mt. Carroll, Oregon, Rochelle and Sterling.