Social service cuts shameful

Two local news articles last week tell a sad tale that should be understood by all responsible people.

First, the Association for Individual Development announced it had to lay off 80 workers. As a result, 1,100 local mentally and physically disabled adults will lose their group homes and their jobs at sheltered workshops. The next day, Mutual Ground in Aurora announced that it had to close its emergency shelter for battered women and children. The last residents packed their meager belongings and moved out, and Mutual Ground is now telling local battered women and abused children to seek emergency shelter in Indiana or Wisconsin.

Both of these local agencies relied on funding from the State of Illinois and were forced to close their doors and discontinue their services due to the continuing problems with our dysfunctional state government. Apparently the impeachment of our sleazy former governor did not solve our problems in Springfield.

Nobody likes paying higher taxes. I certainly don't, and it is very easy to say that we should have lower taxes. However, Illinois actually ranks as one of the lower taxed states based on percentage of income, so we have a bigger problem with an ineffective state government than with high taxes.

Whether or not you personally know any physically or mentally handicapped adults, or any battered women or abused children, the fact is that there are many, many people in our midst who are in serious need of help, but who have no one to help them other than the government. We would all like lower taxes, but we should be ashamed that we are closing our sheltered workshops, and telling our battered women and abused children to look for emergency shelter in Indiana or Wisconsin.

James D. Skaar

Geneva