Law Enforcement Officials Call On Springfield To Pass Budget
(CBS) -- The lack of a state budget and subsequent drop in social services is leaving law enforcement without vital help in keeping kids out of trouble, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.
Non-profits with programs that keep at-risk kids out of prison are closing their doors and the loss of social services means some parents are struggling, like one single mother who recently approached Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel after moving to his community from Chicago.
"She was getting services," Weitzel said. "She no longer gets those services so she can't put her kids into preschool, the afterschool programs, the Head Start, any of those programs, so she came to my office looking for a job, an additional job from the two that she has."
Weitzel joined other members from law enforcement from a Springfield press conference calling on the governor and lawmakers to come up with a budget that funds programs vital to fighting crime.
