October 10, 2008- (Chicago, IL) – State alcohol and drug treatment advocates today urged Governor Rod Blagojevich to restore quickly $55 million to the state’s alcohol and drug treatment budget to head off the latest round of looming layoffs and loss of care to more than 1,200 persons in the Rockford area.
The Illinois General Assembly approved legislation which would restore $55 million to state addiction treatment services and halt the elimination of care to 42,000 people across Illinois. The money is part of a larger $219 million supplement budget bill (SB 1103) which will restore various programs and services vetoed by the Governor last July.
The Governor has yet to act on the legislature’s budget bill, and the delay is placing addiction treatment services and programs in further jeopardy.
“The General Assembly voted to restore drug treatment services to more than 42,000 people across the state,” said Sara Moscato Howe, CEO of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association. “Now, we urge the Governor to end his delay and act swiftly to approve the money.”
While the budget bill sits on the Governor’s desk, Rosecrance Health Network of Rockford is making plans to shutter multiple alcohol and drug treatment programs and services in the next few weeks, a move that will eliminate care to more than 1,200 people. Philip Eaton, president/CEO of Rosecrance, has been delaying taking this step hoping to prevent closing programs, especially for women and children who are directly affected by the budget cuts.
“Every day there is a delay, we move that much closer to closing our recovery home for women and children, doing away with our job training program, reducing our detoxification unit capacity by half, and eliminating nearly 40 staff positions,” stated Eaton. “We are talking about taking away people’s hope and changing their lives forever.”
On July 9, Blagojevich cut $55 million from addiction treatment services and also line-item vetoed money from specific programs: victims of domestic violence, women returning from incarceration, youth treatment, youth in the court system, and women receiving federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families who require treatment to be employed.
Since the Governor’s budget veto was announced nearly three months ago, treatment programs across the state have begun to eliminate services.
“Another 1,200 people will lose care in the next two weeks—added to the thousands already tossed out of care across the state—unless the Governor swiftly signs the budget bill,” said Moscato Howe. “The health care of 42,000 people should matter to him.”
The legislation that would save these programs and hundreds of others across the state arrived on Governor’s desk on Monday, October 6. If no action is taken within 60 days, the bill automatically becomes law, but lives can be lost and changed forever while the wait continues.
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