The problems with the Chicago’s Department of Human Services run far deeper than the initial report in today’s Sun-Times would indicate. According to friends of mine who run social service agencies, DHS’s mismanagement of Head Start lead the feds to cut off some Head Start funding already, and to threaten to cut off ALL funding unless dramatic steps were taken to fix the problem. According to the Sun-Times:
"Sources said the problem of ‘ghost kids’ at Chicago Youth and Community Services triggered a federal review that uncovered more problems in the city’s Head Start program."
In late September the Bush Administration contacted the Mayor’s office and told them of the looming suspension. The Mayor, grateful to Bush, and not willing to be embarassed by a cut-off, dispatched John Doerrer, his political hatchet-man, to take over and clean the mess up (one of the results being that DHS head, Ray Vazquez, has now been fired). One social service agency executive director told me that the problems have been pervasive for years, and that it shouldn’t have taken a fed investigation to get the Mayor’s attention. But, hey, he’s had other matters to attend to other than Chicago’s poorest kids — like, oh, building a new stadium, a grandiose new park, tearing up an airport….