BLOOMINGTON - Children in day care, families in crisis and the mentally ill would be among those whose services would be drastically reduced if state budget cuts go through as planned. | Quinn: Budget means cutting $9.2 billion

"I've lived through this (state budget crises) before but it's never been this bad," said Lisa Pieper, regional vice president of the Children's Home + Aid Children's Foundation, who has been in child welfare for 33 years.

Social service providers began receiving notices late last week about how state budget cuts would affect their programs. Several McLean County service providers said Monday that cuts would be drastic and funding from other sources couldn't make up the difference.

"It could put us out of business," said Matt Jackson, president and chief executive officer of the Occupational Development Center, which provides life skills, job training and placement for people with disabilities.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said he will advocate on the agencies' behalf in Springfield. As budget negotiations continue, Brady said the House Republican Caucus is proposing that spending for all new programs be cut, that state employees' salaries be frozen and that all state agencies - not just the human services - be cut by 10 percent.

"We'd be spreading the cuts across the state budget so not only the most vulnerable would be affected," he said. The proposal would help to bridge the state budget gap but wouldn't alone solve the problem.

"These are extremely painful (cuts)," Brady said. "We're trying to soften the blow."

Under the current state budget, funding to the Children's Foundation's Crisis Nursery - which serves 1,000 families a year - would be eliminated, meaning nursery hours would be reduced, Pieper said. Funding for Healthy Start - which teaches parenting skills to 100 young, first-time mothers - would be cut by 75 percent, Pieper said.

Many parents who get assistance from the state to have their children in day care so the parents can work will find their assistance cut. About 1,100 families in McLean County could be affected, said Dana David, executive director of Milestones Early Learning Center and Preschool.

At Milestones, 41 of 56 families who get assistance would lose it, leaving Milestones with fewer than 30 families, David said. At the Children's Foundation, 150 families would be affected, Pieper said.

The Center for Human Services, which provides treatment for mentally ill people, has been told its state contract of $3,846,108 will be cut by $1,512,392, said executive director Tom Barr. Services would be cut to about 1,750 non-Medicaid working poor who are uninsured and underinsured.

"Clearly, there's a need for the state to have a balanced budget," Barr said. "But the way in which they're doing it will put a large population at significant risk."