With an investigator vacancy rate of 21.2% and a five-year turnover rate of more than 20% statewide, according to an April 2022 report filed in federal court, state caseworkers and investigators at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are expected to juggle caseloads far heavier than those outlined in a federal consent decree in the 1988 B.H. class action lawsuit.
Twenty years ago, the state contribution to the state employees retirement system (SERS) was around $400 million. The most recent payment was $2.6 billion.
Do they want the state to pay case workers more to attract more applicants or do they want to fund the case workers’ pensions?
Well in the past they would do the hiring and simply cut the pension fund contribution. Did I not read here the other day about creating a ramp funding situation for education? The ability of Illinoisans to come up with wack-a-mole spending is astonishingly beyond belief.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Twenty years ago, the state contribution to the state employees retirement system (SERS) was around $400 million. The most recent payment was $2.6 billion.
Do they want the state to pay case workers more to attract more applicants or do they want to fund the case workers’ pensions?
They probably want more taxes so that they can do both.
Well in the past they would do the hiring and simply cut the pension fund contribution. Did I not read here the other day about creating a ramp funding situation for education? The ability of Illinoisans to come up with wack-a-mole spending is astonishingly beyond belief.