Article Summary

This summer marks a decade since Illinois’ budget impasse began, which ultimately dragged on for two years and decimated human services across the state.

Since then, Illinois’ human services sector has recovered, albeit unevenly — a picture complicated by both the increased need brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the billions in federal funding spent as a result.

But major cuts in Medicaid and other federal grants, led by President Donald Trump, threaten to upend progress made rebuilding Illinois’ human services.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

JONESBORO, Ill. — It was a bitterly cold evening on Jan. 19, 1997, when Judy Stegle and her husband, Mike, received the call that would upend their lives forever.

Their 17-ye

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