[il-talk] Illinois misspent money at ICRI.

[Connie Davis]

  Bill, last night I saw the news item about the
  remodeling of the Capitol building.

Connie Davis


  ---- Original message ----

    Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:09:57 -0600
    From: Bill Reif <billreif at ameritech.net>
    Subject: [il-talk] Illinois misspent money at
    ICRI.
    To: "il-talk at nfbnet.org" <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
    >The below story is in today's Springfield State
    Journal-Register. It's
    >great to see state auditors doing their jobs, to
    a point. Unfortunately,
    >they are likely to miss the programmatic waste
    that, while properly
    >documented, doesn't show how some people are
    essentially warehoused
    >rather than made ready for employment.
    >
    >Cordially,
    >Bill
    >
    >Illinois misspent money on program to help
    disabled
    >By JOHN O'CONNOR
    >The Associated Press
    >Posted Nov 23, 2011 @ 09:00 PM
    >Last update Nov 23, 2011 @ 09:56 PM
    >
    >State investigators have found that as much as
    $100,000 in taxpayer
    >money for a program
    >to help disabled people get schooling or jobs was
    misspent on such
    >expenses as a
    >funeral, lawyer's fees and bedding.
    >Two employees have been suspended as a result.
    >The Illinois Department of Human Services said
    Wednesday the workers
    >received 20-day
    >unpaid suspensions after
    >a state report this week revealed that the pair
    and a former employee
    >did not follow state rules
    >on what client expenses are covered by the
    Illinois Center for
    >Rehabilitation and
    >Education in Chicago. The program helps disabled
    people pursue schooling
    >or vocational
    >training and pays for items they need, such as
    work uniforms.
    >The report did not indicate how $100,000 was
    misspent on 76 people *** an
    >average of
    >$1,300 each *** or during what time period. It
    provided examples of the
    >inappropriate
    >expenditures for only six of those clients. An
    aide to the Office of the
    >Executive
    >Inspector General, which compiled the report,
    declined further comment.
    >An internal DHS audit in late 2009 found misspent
    money or undocumented
    >expenditures
    >in each of the 76 cases handled by Pamela
    Clay-Wilson, Madesa Dickerson
    >and Dawn
    >Laga. The auditor said "that she has never
    witnessed abuse of this
    >magnitude (and)
    >estimated that the improper expenditures totaled
    $100,000," according to
    >the Inspector
    >General's report.
    >Payments included $500 to bury a client's son;
    $200 for a client to meet
    >with an
    >attorney to discuss a child custody case; $400
    for clothing despite a
    >$200 limit
    >on such purchases; $694 for two sets of
    mattresses; and $600 for
    >orthopedic shoes
    >for a client who didn't need them.
    >More than $32 million was available to support
    44,000 clients in the
    >program statewide
    >in the 2010 fiscal year, Human Services
    spokeswoman Januari Smith said.
    >Clay-Wilson and Laga were suspended and received
    additional training on
    >state rules,
    >while Dickerson left her job in November 2010,
    according to Smith and
    >state records.
    >Dickerson approved the expenses, Clay-Wilson
    reviewed them without
    >correction, and
    >Laga processed the paperwork, according to the
    report.
    >Dickerson told authorities in an August 2010
    interview that Clay-Wilson
    >wanted to
    >better advertise the program's services and
    recruited clients, many of
    >whom had greater
    >needs than traditionally was the case. The
    mattresses, for example, went
    >to a client
    >and her children who were sleeping on a floor.
    She said most of her
    >clients were
    >homeless.
    >In a response to the report, Clay-Wilson said she
    was trying to open the
    >program
    >to more disabled minorities who enter it "more
    dependent on services
    >from social
    >services agencies than white customers."
    >"This office only tried to provide the services
    necessary for the
    >customers to become
    >successfully employed," she wrote in the
    response. "The error was in
    >failure to document
    >the reason many of the services issued were
    necessary."
    >Clay-Wilson, who according to other state records
    makes $81,900 a year,
    >is out of
    >the office this week. She did not immediately
    return a message and did
    >not answer
    >a home phone.
    >Laga, who makes $49,000, referred questions to
    Clay-Wilson, saying, "I
    >follow the
    >rules." She told investigators she questioned
    some spending, but
    >Clay-Wilson told
    >her to complete the paperwork, an assertion
    Clay-Wilson denied.
    >State records indicate Dickerson, who earned
    $74,900, left her position
    >in November
    >2010. She did not return a message left at a
    number listed at her address.
    >
    >
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