On Monday, we reported that Illinois officials were scrambling to find the funds for thousands of vouchers that parents and social service agencies rely on to care for foster children across the state.
Well, the crisis has been averted.
We got word that Comptroller Dan Hynes' office cut $30 million worth of aid checks last night. The money should make it to foster care providers without delay, according to spokesman Alan Henry.
Nonetheless, the fact that officials in one of the nation's wealthier states struggled to come up with money to feed and cloth thousands of foster children is the latest example of Illinois' dysfunctional financial situation.
The checks may be in the mail, and the hardship avoided -- this time, at least. But the payments hardly put a dent in the state's $3.2 billion backlog on bills. As we've noted before, many of the people eagerly awaiting payment on some 300,000 other outstanding checks are nonprofit agencies that are stretched dangerously thin these days.
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