It’s a crucial time for Illinois in terms of the state budget, but investigators say the state is at a turning point in another respect: fighting Medicaid fraud. Gov. Pat Quinn announced a state budget last month that requires $2.7 billion in cuts to Medicaid. While lawmakers look at restricting eligibility and treatments to shave […]
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City seeking minority police recruits
The Springfield Police Department hopes to hire new patrol officers in the coming months, with minorities to comprise a quarter of the new hires. On Aug. 4, Mayor Michael Houston announced the city would begin in September the recruitment process for new police hires for the first time in two years. Houston also took a […]
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Shakeup in juvenile justice
Three weeks after the director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice announced his resignation, two different studies are calling for major changes in the troubled agency’s operations. Kurt Friedenauer announced his resignation as IDJJ director on July 14, having served in that position since the department’s creation in 2006. Friedenauer oversaw IDJJ’s slow separation […]
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Plan calls for 100 new affordable homes
The City of Springfield plans to build and rehabilitate hundreds of homes as part of a strategy to end homelessness within two years. The city’s 2010-2014 Consolidated Plan, created by the city’s Department of Opportunity, Planning and Economic Development (OPED), lays out plans to improve affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure and public services using millions […]
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Auditor uncovers millions in misspent state funds
A series of audits released last week reveal a rash of problems among state agencies and programs. Performed by the office of Illinois Auditor General William Holland, the audits expose millions of dollars of undocumented spending, lax enforcement of inventory and spending controls and poor staff training that resulted in inaccurate financial records. An audit […]
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Kids in prison
What do you do when you catch a criminal? Conventional wisdom says you lock them up and hope prison scares them straight. But what if that doesn’t work, and what if that criminal is only 13 years old? That’s what Illinois lawmakers thought they were providing four years ago when they established the Illinois Department […]
