Though Illinois' fiscal year 2012 budget continues the disconcerting trend of decreasing funding to care for our most vulnerable - abused and neglected children - the Department of Children and Family Services' budget suffered about a one-half percent reduction from 2011. Certain line items suffered more than others, and the department will begin the tough decision of managing these cuts in the coming weeks and months.
 
Department of Human Services and contracted agencies across the state cont...
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Senate Bill 3 Transfers "Existing" State Debt

Currently, a huge backlog of payments are currently owed to children's service agencies, as well as many other human service providers.

Illinois currently owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to contracted human service agencies throughout the state, but a remedy - Senate Bill 3 - is currently pending in the Illinois General Assembly. This legislation allows these service providers to collect the reimbursement owed from services already rendered A...
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Team co-captains Lindsay and Kathy are forming this year's AIDS 5k Run and Walk team for Kaleidoscope! Because Kaleidoscope is a "Community Direct" service provider to children and youth with HIV/AIDS, Kaleidoscope's team raises money to benefit its programs. Every penny raised by our team goes to Kaleidoscope!

This year's AIDS Run and Walk is Saturday, October 2, and includes a new 10k run for you athletes. Runners will receive a chip for recording your time. 

So come out and join us! Brin...
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Published : Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010, 10:03 PM CDT
By Mike Flannery, FOX Chicago News
 
Chicago - With Gov. Quinn preparing to chop hundreds of millions of dollars from the state budget Thursday morning, mental health care providers said they were already feeling the pain.
 
Fox Chicago News learned that, 48 hours before the governor's public announcement, the state sent contracts for the coming fiscal year that cut some providers by up to 34 percent.
 
Thresholds, Illinois's largest provider o...
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While the Illinois House passed a budget plan in late May, the question still remains regarding what the governor will allocate to various state agencies like DCFS and the impact on Kaleidoscope and other social services.
 
Kaleidoscope is hired by DCFS (Department of Children & Family Services) to care for high-need abused and neglected children who are wards of the state. Contracts generally cover basic human needs as well as necessary therapy or medical coverage, so Kaleidoscope engages in f...
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Friends,

You may recall the brush Kaleidoscope and other child serving organizations had with massive funding cuts less than one year ago.

We undertook the unnerving task of laying off one-third of our staff before funding was ultimately restored to the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS). Though we called back our youth workers and services continued, our children got a real taste of what could have happened.

Over a hundred of our children and youth said goodbye to Ka...

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