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NICIL At Risk Of July 1 Closure

A northern Illinois social services group is again facing the likelihood of closure -- at least temporarily -- as the result of the Illinois budget impasse. 

The Sterling-based Northern Illinois Center for Independent Living serves clients across five counties, and is obligated by the state to make a good faith effort at fulfilling its contracts. 

NICIL met the obligations by spending its savings over the past fiscal year, but Executive Director Michele Miller says the current fiscal crisis makes that option impossible for the next fiscal year.

"At this point, we’ve used all the reserve money we have.  We simply have no more money to continue in any good faith effort to finance the state of Illinois’ responsibility," she said.

Last year's crisis also forced a drastic reduction of staff -- far below the 15 that the organization requires to adequately fulfill its independent living and home care contracts.  

"Due to the amount of money we have, it usually allows us to have nine (employees), when we are fully funded on our contracts," Miller says. "We are currently in fiscal year ’16.  We’re not even receiving half of that original funding."

Illinois owes NICIL $150,000, on top of the $275,000 it contributes to the organization's annual budget.  Several emergency funding measures have been introduced to the General Assembly, including State Bill 2038, but no action has yet been taken.  Also, most measures wouldn't fund NICIL  specificially.   Miller says there will be dire consequences for her agency and others if the impasse continues. 

"We will simply have to close our doors, and that means programs are gone," she said. "Generally, when programs go, they don’t come back." 

Without stopgap funding, NICIL would be obligated to shut its doors July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year.  

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