Illinois slashes ALL state funding for drug and alcohol abuse treatment in massive cuts programme



Disability and child care services could be next

Tens of thousands of Illinois residents are expected to be affected when drug and alcohol treatment and prevention centres across the state have their budgets cut from March 15.

The harsh budget cuts, proposed by Illinois governor Pat Quinn, who is a Democrat, will mean that from next month, all state funding will be cut.



After that date, only federal (national) Medicaid dollars will be available to fund the state's drug and alcohol treatment and prevention programmes, which means that some centres are facing closure.



Budget cuts to substance abuse programmes proposed by Illinois governor Pat Quinn will come into effect next month, and it is feared disability services, child care subsidies and benefits to seniors could also face harsh cutbacks.

Talking to the News-Gazette, which serves East Central Illinois, Sara Howe, CEO of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association said: '80 per cent of our clients on March 15 would be thrown out of care'.



That adds up to around 55,000 people who will lose their help battling drugs.

'It's the most devastating picture possible,' Howe added.

Drug services workers have called the budget cuts "devastating" and say tens of thousands of service users will be affected

A number of organisations are already making plans to lay-off staff and cut off clients' access to services.

Critics of the budget cuts are arguing they are effectively a false economy, since reducing access to prevention programmes for thousands of youth will have possibly disastrous ramifications in future.

And it's not just the future impact of budget cuts on prevention programmes that are causing concern.



There are concerns that dropping substance abuse treatment services will also have implications for hospitals, because when service users cannot access treatment via specialist programmes, they will instead turn to hospitals.

It has been reported that emergency rooms are already filling up with people who need treatment, because budget cuts over previous years have adversely impacted on funding for programmes.



But treatment in hospital emergency rooms comes at a much higher price.

Governor Quinn recently pushed through a state income tax rise, from three to five per cent, in order to help reduce Illinois' large budget deficit.



In his budget address last week, Quinn also opened the door to significant human services cuts.



Disability services, child care subsidies and benefits for old age pensioners could all also face harsh cutbacks.