Story posted Thursday, March 4, 2010
Local Support For Gov's State Budget Plan
By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter
Kenneth Young Center (KYC) CEO Mitch Bruski will be watching Gov. Pat Quinn's budget address next week closely.
KYC is a nonprofit social service agency that provides mental health and senior citizen services to residents of Elk Grove and Schaumburg townships. The two townships, and contracts with the state of Illinois, fund the center.
Bruski likes some of what he sees in what details of the governor's plan have been released. He thinks an unpopular tax increase also proposed by Quinn might be needed to fill the large budget hole.
Illinois is facing an $11.6 billion budget deficit and has been so slow in paying KYC that the agency has had to take out loans just to stay afloat.
Other recipients of state aid such as schools have faced similar delays in receiving their funding.
Bruski said his agency is facing two issues with the state, a possible overall cut in state funding and the ability to be paid what KYC is owed on time. Through last year, the state has been as much as $1 million behind in paying bills owed to KYC.
Bruski said he is encouraged by some of what he saw of the governor's plan but is concerned there might not be enough support for it in the state legislature because of the proposed tax increase.
"The governor's plan is supportive of what we want," said Bruski.
One of those key components in Quinn's plan puts a priority in paying Medicare claims within 90 days.
A large percentage of KYC's clients pay for services through Medicaid, but Bruski is concerned the state might halt payments for the uninsured.
The increase in unemployment has lead to a direct rise in demand for mental health services to the point that some uninsured clients are being waitlisted, a practice that did not happen at KYC just one year ago.
As detailed in a recent Journal & Topics Newspapers report, homelessness in the Northwest suburbs is up between 40 and 100% in the last three years.
Bruski said problems his organization works to deal with do have an impact on the greater society of not confronted and said the answer, though unpopular, is a tax increase.
"How much are people going to look out for their own good or realize the value of looking out for the larger community?" Bruski asked rhetorically. "If there is not a safety net people will spill out into the community."
Bruski has said in the past that less mental health intervention leads to more crisis situations often involving police.
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