Fiscal Focus

              In response to repeated calls to consolidate
the human services delivery system for the
state of Illinois, the General Assembly enact-ed
PA 89-507 and merged all or parts of six
cabinet-level agencies into a single human
services department. The aim of this consol-idation
was to improve accountability,
increase accessibility, and achieve efficiency
and effectiveness in operations to respond to
those who turn to the state for assistance.
This move resulted in Illinois changing its
human services delivery system from one
perceived as one of the most fragmented in
the U.S. to one of the most centralized organ-izations
for the delivery of such services.
The Illinois Department of Human Services
(DHS) was created on July 1, 1997, through
the merger of the Illinois Departments of
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse (DASA),
Rehabilitation Services (DORS), and Mental
Health and Developmental Disabilities
(DMHDD) and parts of the Departments of
Public Aid (DPA), Public Health (DPH) and
Children and Family Services (DCFS). DHS
is the primary state agency for assisting low
income persons and families in Illinois. The
department works to improve the quality of
life of thousands of Illinois families by pro-viding
comprehensive, coordinated services
in seven major program areas:
• Human capital development, including
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF), food stamps, and child care
• Mental health
• Developmental disab ilities
• Rehabilitation services
• Alcoholism and substance abuse treat-ment
and prevention services
• Health services for pregnant women
and mothers, infants, children and ado-lescents,
and
• Prevention services for domestic vio-lence
and at-risk youth
Human Capital Development
A major part of what DHS does falls under
the category of human capital development.
The department’s mission is to assist Illinois’
less fortunate residents achieve self-suffi-ciency,
independence and health. Many pro-grams
and services are available at the state
and local level to accomplish this task.
One component of these services is the Tem-porary
Assistance for Needy Families Pro-gram
which replaced the older Aid to Fami-lies
with Dependent Children Program in fis-cal
year 1998. TANF provides cash assis-tance
to pregnant women and families with
one or more dependent children to help pay
for food, shelter, utilities, and other expenses.
TANF emphasizes transitional services to
help families achieve independence. Based
on federal rules, most adults can receive
TANF for only 60 months during their life-time.
For eligibility purposes, TANF clients
must be pregnant or have a child under 19
living with them, live in Illinois, be a U.S.
citizen and/or meet certain immigration
requirements, and work with DHS staff to
develop and follow a plan outlining the steps
they are going to take to become self-suffi-cient.
This plan may include child support
enforcement activities, employment-related
Cover Story..................................front, 3-6
Letter From The Comptroller ................... 2
History of Cash Assistance
Spending in Illinois .......................... 2, 13
Federal Block Grant Support for
Human Services...................................7, 13
Poverty in Illinois.................................. 8, 9
Homeless Prevention at the
State Level ............................................... 9
Caseloads Drop After
Welfare Reform.......................................10
New TANF Work Requirements........... 11
Substance Abuse Prevention
and Treatment.........................................12
State Operated Hospitals and
Developmental Centers.........................14
February 2007 Tables ........................... 15
Did You Know..........................Back Cover
In This Issue:
• MARCH 2007 ISSUE •
State Assistance Under One Umbrella:
The Department of Human Services
A Publication of the Illinois State Comptroller
Fiscal Focus
Cover Story continued, page 3