Will County Health Department forced to lay off 50 employees
The Will County Health Department has announced a layoff of more than 50 employees—including 48 AFSCME members—due to a $2.1 million shortfall caused by the state budget crisis. Effectively eliminating its adult mental health services, the county said the layoffs “are due to the decision by our Board of Health to mitigate a revenue deficit caused by the non-payment of state of Illinois grant funds.”
Effective May 27, the layoffs will add the Will County Health Department to the ranks of countless other local governments, private human service providers and higher education institutions that have been forced to reduce staff and cut critical services for the public because of Gov. Rauner’s demolition politics.
“This layoff—which would be the third layoff from the health department in as many years—would put very vulnerable populations at risk,” said David Delrose, a Will County Mental Health Counselor and president of AFSCME Local 1028. “It would impact pregnant moms and infants, as well as individuals living with HIV and AIDS.”
Delrose is particularly concerned about impact of this cut on the county’s mental health services. “These layoffs would completely eliminate the county’s adult mental health services, even though we are by far the largest provider of mental health services in the county. These cuts will drive up the number of costly emergency room and inpatient hospital visits and, in some cases, increase admissions to our county jail.”
"Once again, the Rauner Administration is responsible for the decimation of our vital public services,” said AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch. “These harmful cuts are the direct result of the governor’s refusal to give up his anti-worker demands and work collaboratively with the General Assembly to pass a fair budget for our state.”
The proposed layoff will impact nine programs, including:
- Juvenile justice mental health services directed at incarcerated or legally involved youth
- Adult mental health crisis care eligibility assessment—evaluations for those in need of immediate psychiatric attention
- Adult mental health program community mental health outpatient services—outreach, assessment and treatment for people who have symptoms of a serious mental illness, and in some cases with concurrent substance abuse, that are serious obstacles to community functioning
- HIV community outreach, counseling, testing, prevention
- Family case management program—access to medical care and referral to needed supports for pregnant women, mothers and infants
- Vision and hearing screenings for children and adults