ILLINOIS PUBLIC AID CUTS WILL MEAN LOSS OF A NUMBER OF JOBS

ANNA, Ill. -- At least one management position will be eliminated at the Illinois Department of Public Aid (DPA) office in Union County within the next three months.

The consolidation of two regions in Southern Illinois Marion and E. St. Louis will eliminate as many as 40 positions in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

The total impact of major layoffs in the two state agencies remains uncertain in Union, Alexander, Williamson and Pulaski counties.

"At the present time, no layoffs are anticipated in Alexander and Pulaski counties," said Dean Schott of the DPA, headquartered at Springfield. "The one management position at Anna is the only one known at the present time in Union County."

More than 900 workers in the two departments will lose their jobs statewide as a result of budget cuts.

Department of Public Aid Director Phil Bradley last week announced that 625 jobs will be eliminated in his department by Nov. 30, with most of the layoffs occurring after Aug. 31. DCFS Director Sue Suter said earlier this month that most of the 365 layoffs in her department would be effective Oct. 1. Following the announcement of the cuts, Suter announced her resignation.

"About 125 of the DPA workers will fill other vacancies within the agency," said Schott. "But the really good news is that public aid offices will remain in every county."

Schott explained that a proposal had been made to eliminate some offices and consolidate them into regional operations.

"The legislature, however, gave us enough funds to maintain offices in each county," said Schott, adding that most of the layoffs had been identified.

"We're still looking at 85 cuts," he said. "We'll be looking at offices throughout the state this month (August) to determine where the other 85 cuts can be made. "All the cuts should be identified by early September."

About two-thirds of the DPA cuts will be in Cook County, where 406 jobs will be eliminated."

"We've carefully selected the positions to be eliminated so that we can maintain services for our 1.3 million clients," said Schott. "We will work closely with the individuals to be laid off so that they know what other job openings exist, and what assistance is available to them during this difficult transition."

In addition to the layoffs, Public Aid plans to eliminate 158 positions through attrition over the course of the fiscal year, said Schott.

By combining the layoffs and attrition, DPA expects to realize a total savings of $10.2 million during this fiscal year and have its workforce down to a projected 8,995 persons by Dec. 31.

"We don't have a complete list of workers who will be released when the DCFS combines its regions," said Ed McManus from his Springfield office. "Marion and East St. Louis will be consolidated into one office headquartered at East St. Louis, resulting in the elimination of about 40 workers, half of them from the Marion office.

The DCFS, which receives $491 million in state funding, anticipates savings of more than $11 million through the layoffs and attrition.

Twenty one DCFS workers will be eliminated in the Marion region, which covers the 27 southernmost counties in Illinois.

"The vast majority of our layoffs are management positions," said McManus. "Our top priority was to preserve follow-up caseworkers and investigators and we have been able to do that."

"The budget cuts left us strapped for resources needed to implement the reforms we felt were needed," said Suter, who will remain in her position until mid-September.

"I regret that such a large number of staff who have dedicated their lives to serving children and families must be laid off. But we had no choice but to reduce personnel by 10 percent."