News

By Mark Brown, Chicago Sun-Times columnist

Ald. George Cardenas (12^th) says he was only trying to help the homeless when he introduced an ordinance to exempt SROs —single-room occupancy buildings — from the city’s residential landlord-tenant ordinance.

How strange then that all the city’s low-income housing advocates are arrayed against him, while his main support is from an SRO operated by a mob-connected businessman.

The SRO in question — a non-descript facility at 723 W. Grand sometimes known as the Acacia Hotel — is seeking relief from a legal dispute with current and former tenants.

In a pair of class-action lawsuits, those tenants say they were subjected to illegal lockouts, bug infestations and improper late fees.

Cardenas says he proposed his ordinance because such litigation is threatening the city’s dwindling supply of SRO housing by making it too costly to maintain the cheap rents that allow these facilities to serve as a crucial source of shelter for the poor.

But the groups that have led the fight to preserve SROs say there is no evidence of a wider problem and that the alderman’s proposal would take away important legal rights they often rely on to protect SRO residents.

Adding to the intrigue is the involvement of former Ald. Dick Mell, who says Cardenas was so intent on passing his ordinance that he recruited Mell to lobby for it. Mell, who now works as a registered lobbyist, said Cardenas went so far as to help arrange for him to be hired by a lawyer for the building’s owner, SRO Operating Company LLC.

Also showing a keen interest in the affairs of SRO Operating Company LLC is Robert “Bobby” Dominic, whose name can be found on the Chicago Crime Commission charts of the Outfit’s hierarchy.

Dominic, 61, has long been identified by law enforcement as a “mob associate” for his involvement in enterprises involving organized crime such as dirty bookstores and peep shows. Though arrested 15 times in his younger days, Dominic has only two minor misdemeanor convictions on his record.

The Chicago Tribune ran an interesting story about Dominic in 2000, explaining how police officers who raided Dominic’s businesses encountered other Chicago cops on the premises providing security for him, the point being that Dominic has a lot of influential friends.

Despite that notoriety, both Cardenas and Mell told me they don’t know Dominic and were not aware of his involvement with the SRO.

The nature and extent of Dominic’s interest in the venture has been a point of contention in Cook County Circuit Court, where he is among several defendants in the aforementioned class-action suits brought by tenant rights lawyer Berton Ring.

The building that houses the Acacia Hotel fronts on both Grand and Milwaukee and is probably most recognizable to Chicagoans as the site of the popular La Scarola Restaurant, a favorite of mine.

La Scarola occupies part of the first floor alongside the notably more downscale Richard’s Bar.

Occupying the second and third floors is the Acacia, previously called the Arcadia, a 45-unit SRO where residents rent rooms for $100 a week and share a bathroom.

 

In their lawsuit, former tenants Peter Gabiola and Jerry Weikle say Dominic identified himself as the SRO’s owner and manager, while personally renting out rooms and handling maintenance requests.

In a court affidavit filed in response, Dominic said Richard’s Bar is owned by his sister, Susan Dominic, while SRO Operating Company, her landlord, is managed by Thomas Harris, his close friend since childhood. Because of those relationships, Dominic said he has “from time to time” assisted in both operations but doesn’t own either.

That could explain why it was Dominic who personally convinced one of the SRO’s tenants to sign a release dropping his legal claim, persuading him to accept a month’s rent as settlement.

It also might explain why a police officer listed Dominic as the owner of the facility in a report he filed after Dominic waved him down on the street to make a complaint against one of the tenants who brought the original class-action, alleging months after the fact that the individual had punched holes in the walls.

And it also helps explains why a lawyer for SRO Operating Company asked a federal judge to clarify that the Dominics are covered against the lawsuit under an insurance policy taken out by the company — the company in which they say they have no involvement.

If you can handle one more complication, there’s this:

Records show Florence Posner, wife of Chicago hoodlum Michael Posner, once managed the same property, which also carries the address of 491 N. Milwaukee, prior to its current owners taking over.

Michael Posner, once the mob’s reputed boss in Lake County before he caught a 10-year prison sentence in 1987 for operating a prostitution ring from his nude dancing club, went on to become a casino operator on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

Just another small twist: The city business license for the SRO is held in the name of a Cicero man who died in 2004, although his signature has continued to appear on license renewal applications.

Are you getting the picture?

I dropped by the bar in search of Dominic and left my card but haven’t heard back.

The big question is how this SRO’s problems became the concern of Cardenas, whose Southwest Side ward is far from Grand and Milwaukee.

Cardenas said it began with his idea to fight homelessness by creating additional SRO housing in the city for low-income individuals.

He said he assigned his staff to work on the issue, and they reported back that the big problem driving SROs out of business and discouraging new ones from opening was nuisance litigation brought by class-action lawyers abusing the landlord tenant ordinance.

For evidence of this problem, he could only direct me to Edward Eberspacher, the lawyer for SRO Operating Company. He was fuzzy about how they became acquainted or how Mell got involved.

Mell was more definitive.

“Cardenas called me and asked me would I help him get it passed,” Mell told me. “Cardenas told me to call the attorney or gave the attorney my number.”

Cardenas’ explanation overlooks the fact that what has driven SROs out of business is the soaring demand for rental properties in certain parts of the city that make it far more lucrative for owners to sell out to developers who want to take the buildings upscale and jack up rents.

It also misses the point that the landlord-tenant ordinance has been an important tool of public interest lawyers fighting to protect the rights of residents being driven out of those buildings by landlords who sometimes employ illegal tactics.

Cardenas’ proposal would add SROs to a list of facilities exempt from the landlord-tenant ordinance — joining hotels, motels and roominghouses. Lawyer Eberspacher argues this was always the intent of the original ordinance and that this is only a “clarification.”

While they might pay by the week or month, many SRO residents remain there for years, making them more like apartment dwellers than hotel guests.

Cardenas also proposes to make the change retroactive to the original effective date of the 1986 landlord-tenant ordinance, the combined effect of which would give the SRO more ammunition for its court defense.

I keep thinking somebody conducted the research for Cardenas’ ordinance from a table at La Scarola.

Read our blog about CCH’s work to stop the Cardenas SRO ordinance.

By Mirkica Popovik

About 20,000 young people at risk of homelessness in Illinois may be on the streets without shelter and services this winter, as the state’s budget stalemate continues in Springfield, leaving crucial social services unfunded. Advocates warn that if these programs close, they may never open again.

“Some of these programs are staying open on the hope that they will be paid someday, now they are just borrowing money, spending down reserves, but this can’t continue, programs are going to start shutting down,” said Julie Dworkin, policy director at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “Once they shut down, even if funding is restored some of them might not be able to just reopen, which means that the infrastructure for helping the homeless will be lost.”

At a rally held at the Thompson Center Sept. 23, advocates argued that more than 77 percent of the organizations that provide services to homeless youth could experience program cuts or full elimination of their services as a result of the budget impasse, which started July 1. They asked Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to end the stalemate.

Flora Koppel, a staffer at Unity Parenting and Counseling on the city’s near Southwest Side, said youth who lose access to services may “have to go back on the streets, or return to the abusive parent or partner.” She noted that many homeless youth also end up turning to prostitution in order to survive, a very real risk for any youth who lose services or shelter.

Koppel and Dworkin were just two of hundreds of service providers, homeless youth, advocates and legislators who came out against the budget impasse last week. The group stood around a box that read: “Don’t make homeless youth live in a dirty box.” The protesters urged Illinois legislators to put human lives and the future of young people ahead of collecting revenues.

State Representatives Greg Harris and Will Guzzardi, both Democrats representing Chicago, were at the rally. Harris said homelessness among youth is not a small problem. He cited statistics from a University of Illinois study that counted 21,000 homeless children in the state.

“It is just a struggle to live like this,” said Chris, a 22-year-old man living on the street. He said the only support he gets is through the state’s food stamp program, but that was cut off for him in July.

“Sometimes to be honest I have to steal the necessary things that I need, but I find it hard to get to a shower if I can’t get to a shelter. Sometimes I can’t get to the shelter because I don’t have any transportation. That in itself is just a difficult way to live. I’m hungry a lot because they are taking my Link card because there isn’t enough funding.”

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless released a survey showing that since July 1, when the budget deadline passed without a budget:
* 36 percent of homeless youth providers have already reduced or eliminated services.
* 41 percent said they would be forced to make reductions if the situation continues.
* 64 percent of services are already spending down reserve funds to stay open.
* 67 percent said they have limited and will have to limit intake of new clients.

The coalition said that young people rely on key services such as transportation, which is being cut back. And further cuts would open a “Pandora’s box” of severe social problems for these youth, advocates said.

“The youth are not going to be able to have shelter, they’ll be faced with sleeping on the streets, there is a lot of danger and they are really open to sexual exploitation, victimization,” said Dworkin.

The coalition survey also found that when youth are unsheltered and living on the street, they are:
* Three times more likely to be forced into prostitution and twice as likely to be raped or assaulted.
* More likely to fall victim to sexual exploitation; 28 percent of youth living on the street trade sex for basic needs such as food or shelter.
* More likely to be victims of physical violence; 63 percent experienced violence while homeless
* They are not likely to have health care.

Koppel added that on top of the social cost, the financial cost to the state for taking care of unsheltered youth is much higher if they get into trouble.

Dworkin said the state would lose more money long-term by cutting social programs rather than sustaining them. For instance, Koppel stated that the annual state costs for an underage youth in the welfare system is $48,328. Taking care of them in a psychiatric hospital costs $127,000 a year, and incarcerating them in juvenile detention costs $111,000 annually.

Koppel’s program is still standing, but the math shows time is running out. In fact, the group may not be able to pay for such essentials as rent and salaries in November or December, Koppel said, which might lead to the closing of their facilities, leaving 56 of their clients on the street.

Calvin, a 22-year-old from St. Louis, has been homeless for six months and is staying at the Broadway Youth Center (BYC) in Lakeview. His parents forced him to leave the house after Calvin told them he was gay, he said.

“The BYC is also an afternoon drop-in center, they help with resources like helping you sign up for housing, for medical care,” Calvin said. “They are already struggling as it is, so any more cuts would be absolutely devastating. We wouldn’t know where to sign up for school or look for work anymore.”

Many of the homeless youth at the rally said the cuts are a sign that the state has given up on the most vulnerable groups.

“We will have to go back to sleeping on the buses, trains, railways, park benches, bus stops,” said 24-year-old Christopher, who said he was kicked out of his home and homeless for six months, residing in shelters on the South Side. “You don’t want that happening to this city full of tourists. You don’t want them to think the city is lazy, when it is not lazy, but has just given up on the people that need help the most.”

His dream is to use his talent as a dancer and a singer, but he is unable to because of his living condition. He is struggling to get a social security card and an ID. If programs that are now helping get people jobs, education and basic necessities like clean clothes shut down, he says, they will all be left lost and stuck.

The coalition said that young people rely on key services such as transportation, which is being cut back. And further cuts would open a “Pandora’s box” of severe social problems for these youth, advocates said.

Angela McClellan from the Coalition for the Homeless said giving up on youth is what makes young people hopeless, and once they lose hope they are often willing to do anything.

“They have to survive, they have to eat, that is when they go to the streets and do the things that they do,” she said. Because they have no hope, they have no goals for the future. “Half of them don’t think they are going to live past 18. Simple things like giving them new shoes, a pair of pants gives them hope,” she said. “And we wonder why they are out there killing each other on the street, because they are in a hopeless situation.”

Calvin suggests the state should consider making use of abandoned buildings for homeless shelters. “We have the space, more than enough space, but if it is not something that immediately makes our corporate leaders money, it is not of interest to them,” he said. “I feel like we have to stand up to them and show that human rights come before anything.”

“Reducing or ending these programs saves money short-term, but is extremely expensive long-term,” added Koppel. “These programs are documented to be successful, they help the youth find jobs, finish school, keep their families intact and become taxpayers.”

– Mirkica Popovik is a visiting journalism fellow at Community Media Workshop. She is in the U.S. for a four-month media fellowship as part of the Macedonian Media Leaders Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Listen to Maureen McKinney’s interview with CCH Policy Director Julie Dworkin.

Advocates and others gathered at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago today to draw attention to the budget impasse’s impact on services for homeless youth.

That comes on the heels of a report from several homeless-support agencies outlining problems created for them by the budget impasse. One hundred one homeless service providers responded to a survey this August, and 90 percent said they have already had to — or will have to — deny services to people who are homeless or at risk of being on the streets. They’ve had to turn away potential clients and cut services for those who can get help. There have been staff layoffs, furloughs and cuts of entire programs.

The report was produced by organizations including the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Housing Action Illinois and the Supportive Housing Providers Association.

According to the report, the state budget impasse is “putting people in a crisis that contributes to the homelessness: 41 percent of agencies have limited the intake of new clients and 39 percent have eliminated services for current clients.” Another 32 percent closed sites and 33 percent have eliminated programs.

By Craig Dellimore, WBBM 780 Political Editor

CHICAGO (CBS) — Homeless young people and other advocates rallied outside the Thompson Center today, crying out against cuts in social services during the budget impasse, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.

The crowd chanted for more revenue and Flora Koppel with Unity Parenting and Counseling argued that the state could save money by providing the average of $2,000 a year to care for a homeless teen.

“When an under-aged homeless youth or the children of a homeless parent end up using the child welfare system…the annual cost is $48,328 a year,” Koppel said. “Weigh that against less than $2,000 that the state is paying.”

State Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) said he hated coming to yet another rally like this.

“It also hurts me to hear us having to justify these services on financial grounds, to say that, ‘Oh well it’s cheaper to provide services for homeless people than to let them die in the streets,’” Guzzardi said.

He says people need to get angry.

Listen to the WBBM Newsradio report.

By Patrick Judge

Youth and staff from the Ujima Village homeless shelter were among about 75 demonstrators who rallied Wednesday morning outside the Thompson Center, calling for Gov. Bruce Rauner to end the budget stalemate.

Representatives of a dozen advocate groups said programs to help homeless youth have suffered due to the Illinois legislature’s failure to pass a budget.

The rally was organized by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

“I think the state of Illinois, and Governor Rauner, and the government have many public sins to atone for today,” said Flora Koppel, executive director of Unity Parenting & Counseling Center.

“Cutting a budget, delaying a budget — that causes neglect to the most vulnerable individuals and families, including and especially homeless youth. That is something that requires atonement.”

Among other services and shelters, Unity Parenting operates the homeless shelter Ujima Village, 500 E. 37th St., which every night houses up to 24 people between the ages of 18 and 25.

Without a working budget, Unity Parenting is cut off from $500,000 in state funding — nearly 15 percent of its annual operating costs. Ujima Shelter has enough funds to last the year, but could close Dec. 31, staffers said.

“You can’t cut the food in half,” said A. Anne Holcomb, a member of Ujima Shelter staff. “We’ve cut it as far as we could cut. … We’re not King Solomon.”

According to a report prepared by the homeless coalition, the budget crisis has already forced 90 percent of the homeless agencies surveyed to deny assistance to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

After the rally, four demonstrators delivered a cardboard box decorated by homeless youth to the governor’s Thompson Center office, where they shared their stories with members of the governor’s staff.

Includes Sun-Times video

By Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown

The number of homeless children in public schools has doubled since before the recession, reaching a record national total of 1.36 million in the 2013-2014 school year, according to new federal data.

The latest homeless count, an 8 percent increase over the 2012-2013 school year, is a sign that many families continue to struggle financially even as the economy recovers from the housing collapse of 2008. And it offers a glimpse of the growing challenges that public schools face nationwide as they seek to educate an increasing number of low-income children.

The impact is profound on public schools, which struggle to try to address the needs of homeless children. Teachers often find themselves working not only to help children learn but also to clothe them, keep them clean and counsel them through problems — including stress and trauma — that interfere with classroom progress.

Many schools receive federal funds meant to help connect homeless students with support services. But that federal funding has not kept pace with the increasing need: In fiscal 2006, the Department of Education distributed $61.8 million for homeless youth programs. It had fallen slightly to $61.7 million by 2013, then increased slightly to $65 million in 2014.

Nationwide, student homelessness has increased steadily since 2009, continuing to rise even after the U.S. unemployment rate began falling and much of the country began recovering from the recession and the housing crash that helped cause it. Now, nearly 3 percent of the nation’s public school students are homeless, the data show.

“One of the things we note during recessions is that young families and kids tend to be the ones who go into poverty first, almost like a canary in a coal mine,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children, an advocacy group. “But also in the back end, kids are the last to recover. Because this recession was because of housing, it’s been particularly bad for kids.”

California, the most populous state, had the largest number of homeless children: more than 310,000, or 23 percent of the national total.

It was followed in descending order by New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Washington, Kentucky and Missouri. The state with the smallest total was Rhode Island, which reported 1,020 homeless students.

“It’s obviously tied to the Great Recession,” said Tina Jung, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

But California’s population of homeless children fell sharply after the recession, in 2009-2010, and then rose more gradually until 2013 before spiking in 2014, according to the federal data. Student homelessness also is more prevalent there than in almost any other state: Nearly 1 in 20 children in California experienced homelessness during the 2013-2014 school year.

Barbara Duffield, director of policy and programs at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, said she thinks the rise could be driven in part by the economy but also by schools getting better at identifying and counting homeless children.

“They might have had a reasonable caseload, and now they have a stack of referrals. They’re scrambling to make sure transportation is arranged, they’re coordinating clothing and school supplies with outside agencies, they’re trying to make referrals for housing if it exists,” Duffield said. “And, of course, for the classroom teacher, there are all kinds of challenges. Homeless students may have trouble focusing, there’s more transition, all sorts of things that can be destabilizing for a classroom.”

Homeless children are more likely to be diagnosed with learning disabilities, are more likely to miss school and change schools, are more likely to drop out of school than other children and score lower on standardized tests.

It is not just urban school systems that grapple with homelessness; the problem extends to rural and suburban communities, especially as the revitalization of cities has forced low-income families to look for cheaper housing elsewhere.

Sonya Shpilyuk, an English teacher at Watkins Mill High School in Maryland’s Montgomery County, just outside the District, said that she often doesn’t know which of her students are homeless, and that creates a barrier to helping them.

But she makes a Costco run every three weeks to keep her classroom stocked with healthy snacks for hungry students. And she watches for signs that students don’t have a steady place to live.

“The thing about kids who have really troublesome home lives — not just with homelessness but other things, too — is that they have this defeated look on their faces, because they’re trying, and it’s not working,” she said. “They’re tired, and they’re hungry, and it’s stressful because they don’t know where they’re going after school.”

One problem, advocates say, is that the federal department of Housing and Urban Development’s policies are geared toward chronically homeless adults, not children. For instance, HUD considers a child to be homeless — and eligible for services such as transitional housing — if he or she is living in a shelter or on the street but not always if the student is living with friends or in a motel.

“The vast majority of families and youth don’t fit the HUD definition of homeless,” Duffield said.

A bipartisan bill pending in Congress would create a consistent federal definition of homelessness and prohibit HUD from prioritizing the needs of the chronically homeless — who are typically adults — over those of children and families.

HUD officials said that complaints about the agency’s focus on chronic homelessness are based on years-old policies that have since changed to include a new emphasis on other kinds of homelessness, including among families and veterans.

And they say arguing over eligibility rules for homelessness assistance programs misses the bigger problem: There just aren’t enough resources for people in need.

By Jim Williams, CBS Chicago co-anchor

Think the Illinois budget is bad? We just got a new snap shot today and the number is unimaginable.

The state will have $8.5 billion in unpaid bills by the end of the year. CBS 2’s Jim Williams introduces us to some of those already feeling the pain.

Sue Loellbach, executive director the Connections for the Homeless shelter in Evanston, says it used to be “very, very busy in the morning,” but not now.

Lockers for the homeless who sleep on the streets are now empty.

“This allowed them a place to keep their valuable papers, clean dry clothes, medications,” Loellbach says.

They can’t use the showers either.

“If they can’t use a shower, that makes them stay away from people, less likely to engage, to go to the doctor when they need to, to come in and see a case manager,” Loellbach says.

Loellbach says the shelter lost its state funding in July.

“It was a pathway relationships in the community that will lead to a better life,” she says.

You could call Connections part of the unlucky 10 percent, causalities of the state budget impasse.

90 percent of state programs are still funded because of court decrees, including retiree benefits, salaries for most state employees and money to retire bond debt.

Comptroller Leslie Munger says with no budget, it’s adding up $8.5 billion in red ink.

“This is clearly a recipe for disaster and the longer this continues the harder it will be for our state to regain its financial footing,” Munger says.

Sue Loellback says it a sad message for the homeless she serves.

Which raises the question, if the state is only paying 90 percent of its bills, why is there a backlog?

It is because the temporary income tax hike expired and current spending levels are based on having the higher tax, so yet again Illinois is spending money it doesn’t have.

Link to the WBBM TV report.

Graham Bowman, CCH’s youth health attorney, requested a state hearing on proposed changes to the state appeals process for poor people who are denied public benefits, including Medicaid. His August 26 testimony can be read here.

By Maudlyne Ihejirika

Debra Hamilton and her disabled daughter were among dozens of critics of proposed changes to Illinois public aid rules at a Department of Human Services hearing on Wednesday.

The Rauner administration is seeking to revise the appeals process for those denied or terminated from aid programs including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

A slew of advocates and attorneys for the elderly, disabled and poor pointed out legal issues with section after section of the proposed rule changes.

“The proposed rules dramatically limit the rights of people who are applying for benefits, which flies in the face of federal law. They are very similar to recent rule changes that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as a violation of due process,” said Anthony Ferraro, president of the Illinois Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Speakers such as Hamilton, 53, of Aurora, whose daughter Sarah suffers from epilepsy and autism and is legally blind and cared for at home, spoke about the potential effect on lives.

“I took the time to read and re-read this. Among the more glaring errors is a shift in responsibility in the ‘burden of proof’ sections, and I’m shocked by the dozens of times that I saw the words ‘fair’ or ‘impartial’ stricken,” Hamilton said, as Sarah and her seeing-eye dog, Jordan, looked on. “I urge you to sustain access to care for people like my daughter.”

As with the Rauner administration’s proposed changes to child care eligibility rules, advocates across the state have sounded an alarm over the DHS changes.

DHS spokeswoman Veronica Vera declined to respond to criticism of the proposed changes made at the hearing, conducted by a DHS attorney, at 160 N. La Salle. In an email, she wrote only: “DHS held a public hearing at the request of members of the community over federally mandated rule changes.”

Critics who spoke at the hearing included groups such as the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, which has sued the state to force Medicaid payments during the budget stalemate, the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, and Access Living.

Their complaints included proposed new limits to what can be appealed; how appeals can be initiated; the time period to appeal; limits to locations where appeal hearings can be held; who can represent applicants at hearings; and limits to access of DHS records for the purpose of appeals.

“Anyone who has ever tried to call a DHS office knows how difficult it is to get someone on the phone. The only way you’re guaranteed to do that is by filing an appeal,” said Graham Bowman of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, which requested the DHS hearing. “These rules are going to make obtaining public benefits a lot more difficult and burdensome.”

State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), who sits on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which ultimately must approve the changes, said he was disheartened by what he heard at the hearing.

“If I was the average citizen or family, I’d be scared to death. This is the bureaucrats’ dream,” said Harris, shaking his head. “DHS is saying, ‘We’ll make a decision. You’ll have 10 days to gather your documents. You may have to drive to a whole different city for a hearing. And if you do one thing wrong, you lose.’ You simply can’t pass something that will have a disparate impact on the elderly and disabled.”

Editor’s Note: CCH Youth Health Attorney Graham Bowman will testify at the August 26 hearing.

The Illinois Department of Human Services is holding the second of two public hearings Wednesday over the Rauner administration’s proposals to toughen the appeals process for key benefits programs.

The Rauner administration’s proposed rule changes would impact Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), according to disability advocacy group Access Living.

The group says the Rauner administration is seeking to make the appeals process harder for people who are denied benefits or terminated from those programs.

The Rauner administration’s proposed rules “do not provide customers with due process, are unnecessarily complicated and confusing, and in some cases are in conflict with the federal statutes and regulations protecting the rights of those eligible for the various benefits programs,” Access Living’s advocacy director said in a posting on the group’s website.

SEIU* Healthcare Illinois is also speaking out against the proposed changes.

“The Rauner administration is adding a blizzard of new barriers to access services as well as denying due process to the very poor in ways that conflict with existing statutes, regulations and court cases–not to mention Rauner’s own public statements that he is committed to preserving benefits for the vulnerable,” the union said in a media release. “Among the changes, the state would alter the entire premise for Illinois social services and place the burden of proof for aid on those who need help the most — a drastic departure from current conditions — and would move hearings when benefits are denied far away from access points for the poor.”

Wednesday’s hearing on the administration’s proposals will take place at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in Chicago at 1 p.m. A DHS hearing on the proposed changes was held in Springfield on Tuesday.

By Frank Main

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has been on a crusade this year to keep some accused shoplifters and trespassers from having extended stays behind bars before trial.

Dart recently notched a bipartisan victory in that campaign when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the so-called “Rocket Docket” bill into law.

Rep. Mike Zalewski and Sen. Bill Cunningham, both Democrats, were the primary sponsors of the bill envisioned by Dart. Zalewski is from west suburban Riverside and Cunningham is from Chicago.

Rauner signed the bill late Friday, according to Dart’s office. It passed unanimously in the Senate and by a margin of 71-36 in the House.

“This is a good first step to rethinking how our criminal justice system works to punish and correct unlawful behavior,” Zalewski said.

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez has supported the measure. So has Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, who visited the jail in July.
“These are people who have made mistakes and are looking for ways to move forward,” Cupich said at the time, echoing a similar statement by Pope Francis after he visited a prison in Italy last year.

Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) voted against the legislation.

“I don’t hate the bill,” he said. “I think Sheriff Dart has done a terrific job of highlighting the problem that we are using our jails for mental treatment. But I am not sure we should be releasing those people to the street, either.”

Batinick said he thinks the real issue is that “we underserve the mentally ill in this state.”

The new law creates the Accelerated Resolution Court in Cook County. Under a two-year pilot program, the court will dispose of low-level shoplifting and trespassing cases within 30 days from their assignment by the presiding judge.

More than 100 inmates could immediately take advantage of the court, according to the sheriff’s office, which operates the jail.

Dart has emphasized that the primary reason for the court isn’t to reduce the jail population, which has been below capacity this year. Instead, it’s to give those inmates a chance to work outside the jail while they fight their cases, he has said.

The program is limited to people charged with retail theft of property under $300 or criminal trespassing.

Dart said the inmates who will go before the Accelerated Resolution Court have committed “crimes of survival.” Many are homeless and mentally ill, and have been in jail frequently on such charges, he said.

Defendants eligible for the court can’t have a prior conviction for certain violent crimes over the previous decade. The crimes include murder, sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping, arson and offenses involving discharge of a firearm. People eligible for the program are unable to post bond or are ineligible for electronic monitoring because they’re homeless or lack a proper host site.

If their cases aren’t resolved within a month, they must be freed on their own recognizance or placed on electronic monitoring pending the conclusion of their cases.

The judge may require a defendant to refrain from drugs and alcohol; undergo mental treatment; and live in a facility selected by the court.

In a statement Tuesday, Dart said the average cost of keeping an inmate in jail for a day is $143 — more than the value of the goods a shoplifter is typically caught stealing.

The average jail stay for people charged with retail theft is 59 days. One alleged shoplifter has been behind bars for 270 days, according to the sheriff’s office.

Examples of such detainees include a man who has spent 86 days in jail for allegedly stealing five packages of T-shirts from a Walgreens store in May. The 47-year-old man has a history of arrests for retail theft, according to Dart’s office.

Dart said the man has cost taxpayers $12,298.

A 39-year-old man has spent 46 days in jail for allegedly trespassing at a fish restaurant in July. He has a history of criminal trespassing, including at the same restaurant, the sheriff’s office said.

Cara Smith, the chief strategist for the sheriff’s office, said the Rocket Docket program stems from an analysis of the jail population ordered by Dart.

“Low-income people charged with minor offenses spend a shocking number of days in custody,” Smith said the study found.

In the first six months of this year, 590 people in the jail were sentenced for various crimes — from robberies to drug possession to shoplifting — and were immediately freed because they had served more time in jail awaiting trial than the length of the sentence they received. They had spent 44,448 days in jail above what they needed to satisfy their sentences, Smith said.

Smith said other types of offenses — such as drug crimes — could eventually be included on the Rocket Docket, depending on the results of the pilot program.

“We are trying to expedite the process for those people who should not be here,” she said.