CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois' financial situation is now affecting some of the state's most vulnerable people, including programs helping families with disabilities.
On Monday, developmental disabilities service providers state-wide received a letter from the Illinois Department of Human Services saying their budget "does not include sufficient funding to support all services to the developmentally disabled for all of Fiscal Year 2012."
Those services include child group homes, community living facilities, therapies and other programs serving the developmentally disabled.
Peter Tracy is Champaign County Developmental Disabilities Board's executive director. He said he was "outraged" after reading the letter.
"Not only are they saying [the state is] not going to pay their bills on time, but they're saying they're going to pay this year's bills with next year's money," Tracy said.
It's affecting agencies like the Developmental Services Center in Champaign, who serves 1,400 people with developmental disabilities each year.
But CEO Dale Morrissey says late payments by the state are nothing new.
"We're [already] four to five months behind in all of our payments," Morrissey said. "So what does [this letter] really mean?"
But folks like Tracy see something between the lines of the letter -- a message from the state of Illinois.
"What a low priority services for people with disabilities are," said Tracy.
State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka announced Tuesday afternoon that those payments are bring re-directed, and will begin to be paid on July 1.
No word on how it will affect the state's already-delinquent payments to developmental disabilities agencies.
