Today, Governor Bruce Rauner delivered his annual budget address in Springfield.
The following response to the message can be ascribed to Colleen K. Connell of the ACLU of Illinois:
Governor Rauner’s budget message was a disappointment and failed again to recognize the provision of social services in our State must be approached in a holistic fashion. The Governor talks of increased financial support for DCFS, while cutting the type of community-based mental health services that actually can assist children from being drawn into the DCFS system. We must see our social service programs as an ecosystem, reinforcing and affecting other parts of the system.
After years of a piecemeal approach, the time has come for a comprehensive approach to child welfare – that serves families and ensures that every child is placed in a clean, safe and secure home and having a commitment to specialized services available to youth who are the survivors of abuse.