• ECIAAA

I4A for the Week of 05-30-2016

Illinois Aging Network Alert
A weekly report on the impact of the State budget crisis on Illinois seniors and community programs from
I4A ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF AREA AGENCIES ON AGING
Week of May 30, 2016
Contact: Joy Paeth (618) 222-2561 or Jon Lavin (708) 383-0258
 
POST-SESSION SNAPSHOT: FRAYING ILLINOIS SENIOR SERVICES NETWORK PUSHED TOWARDS MORE CUTBACKS IN PROGRAMS AND STAFFING.

Local and regional Illinois senior services agencies providing initial feedback after the Governor and legislature ended regular session without reaching agreement on appropriations say that result leaves them with no choice but to continue curtailing service delivery, programs and staff. They also fear that after June the State may no longer be able to draw down essential federal funding for senior programs as well.

While some senior services appropriations passed earlier in the session managed to avoid a veto by the Governor and included partial funding for programs such as Adult Protective Services, Ombudsman activities, Home Delivered Meals, and needs evaluations for seniors to qualify for home-based assistance, those were the last resources that made it into the pipeline .

A new appropriations bill, SB 2038, passed the General Assembly in May with bipartisan, near -unanimous support. It appropriates $700 million to partially finance various human services programs – including an array of senior services – that have gone without current-year state finding since last summer, at about 46% of what the programs had expected to receive had the state budget taken effect last July 1.

Although SB 2038 received overwhelming support from legislators in both parties in both Houses, Governor Rauner has not yet said if he is going to veto the bill or sign it. http://ilga.gov/legislation/99/SB/PDF/09900SB2038enr.pdf

The source of SB 2038 appropriations is the non-GRF Commitment to Human Services Fund and various special funds such as Tobacco Settlement dollars for the Senior Health Assistance Program.

Senior agencies also fear that authorization allowing Illinois to draw down critical federal senior services funding, which the Governor and Legislature previously agreed to, will not extend past June 30. Without the federal dollars and with no new state funding agreement at least two Illinois major multi-county Area Agencies on Aging report they will have to shut down completely in August.

The future of the widely-used Community Care Program that helps keep seniors in their own homes instead of nursing homes, hospitals and other institutions also remains uncertain. The Illinois Department on Aging has stated previously that implementation of its proposed partial substitute for CCP, the Community Reinvestment Program, depends on approval of a new state budget.

Changes in eligibility and service content proposed in the new Community Reinvestment Program could also be significantly impacted by HB 4351. This bill is a legislative response to the new IDOA program and is intended to preserve equal access to services for seniors under the current CCP criteria. It has passed the General Assembly and awaits action by the governor.

Around Illinois this week major components of the State’s senior services safety net continue to report further reductions in service delivery, elimination of programs, and unfilled staff vacancies. These include cutbacks in days and hours of service availability; elimination or reduction of transportation services; and no availability of home-delivered meals and congregate dining sites on certain days.

I4A is asking the Governor and the General Assembly to pass a budget with adequate revenues to meet Illinois’ obligations to its citizens!

Get in touch

Location

ECIAAA
1003 Maple Hill Road
Bloomington, IL 61705-9327

Contact

Contact Us
Email: aginginfo@eciaaa.org
Phone: 309-829-2065
Fax: 309-829-6021

Seniors may call toll free:
Phone: 1-800-888-4456

Opening hours

Mon-Fri: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sat-Sun: CLOSED