‘Illinois Is Broke’: Crisis in the

Health and Human Services Sector

THE CASE FOR SUPPORT OF UNITED WAY

Today, people need the services provided by United Way more than ever:
• The number of people living in poverty increased by more than 14% in 2009.
• Illinois’ unemployment rate is close to 11%, but over 30% for families living in poverty.
• Child homelessness is up 300% year over year in Chicago Public Schools.
• For many city communities, high school drop out rates are above 70%.

But the state of Illinois is failing our residents, just when the demand for services is staggering.
With a state budget deficit of more than $13 billion and the largest unfunded pension liability in
the country, critical services are being defunded at an alarming rate.
• Within the last two fiscal years, state-funded agencies have experienced funding cuts of 20 to 45%
• Illinois ranks highest in the country for unpaid liabilities to private contract providers of health
and human services; on any given day, the state owes $600 million in back payments to providers
of social services
• The most recent United Way ‘stress test’ data collected from United Way-funded providers revealed that,
based on three financial stability factors upon which surveyed, 70% of the agencies ‘flagged’ for
financial stress on at least one factor and of those, 28% flagged two or more factors.
• Last year, United Way received applications for funding at a level of 10 times the amount of funding
available, the largest ‘request for funding’ ratio in decades.

The Role of United Way:

The state funding crisis is not a temporary situation. Acknowledging that the state will no longer be
able to fund health and human services at current rates, efforts are underway at the state level to
redefine what a reduced sector will look like. In the meantime, United Way is providing thought leadership,
legislative advocacy, and the coordination, aggregation and management of private sector resources at
a time when its strong leadership has never been more critical. Without United Way, there is no ‘second
line of defense’ to ensure that our region can maintain at least a decent level of services for people in need.
Today, we are asking at this pivotal moment in our state’s history, that we all commit to keeping critical
health and human services in place now and into the future through generous support of United Way.

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