Illinois residents seeking treatment for alcohol or drug problems may have a harder time finding help as budget cuts and late bills have caused service reductions at facilities across the state.

Bills can be late as many as 90 days, which has created an estimated payment backlog of $52 million to local alcohol and drug treatment providers, according to a press release from the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association. The association represents the interests of about 50 community alcohol and drug abuse treatment providers and expresses their legislative interests in Springfield.

“It’s not that the bills aren’t being processed,” said Tom Green, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services. “The comptrollers office just has to hold back until the funds are available.”

Green also attributed the bill pay problems to a lack of tax revenue coming in and the nationwide economic downturn.

The Human Services budget totals to about $5.1 billion, but $260 million has been cut, which is affecting mental health care, child care and other social services, Green said.

Because of the late payments, some Illinois alcohol and drug treatment providers have not been able to make their payroll, resulting in workers doing their jobs without payment, said David Ormsby, spokesman for the association. The most serious problem with late payments, however, is the reduction of services that many treatment centers have had to make.

People needing treatment may be put on waiting lists or even turned away.

“When someone has decided they need treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, that is the best time to reach them,” Ormsby said. “Putting them on a waiting list puts at risk the very narrow window of opportunity we have to get them off the abusing substance.”

Ormsby outlined two solutions to this crisis, one of which would be a quick improvement in the current economic climate, which most experts are not expecting in the near future. The other solution would be for the governor and general assembly to look at other sources of revenue or even borrow money to bring relief in the short term.

The Prairie Center Health Systems Inc. offers treatment and services for people with alcohol and drug abuse and dependency issues. Prairie Center’s locations in both Urbana and Danville, Ill., have felt the “tremendous” effects of these cuts and late payments, said Betty Seidel, Director of Development.

“It has been very demoralizing,” she said.

Prairie Center had to close their detox center in August due to lack of funding and has recently cut 25 percent of their staff, which included nurses, professional counselors and support staff, Seidel said.

“Everyone is doing the best they can,” Seidel said. “The cuts are affecting emergency rooms and other agencies as well.”

With the Urbana detox center closed, the next closest detox is in Bloomington, Ill.

“We had 805 admissions (to detox) last year,” Seidel said. “So that’s 805people I don’t know about anymore. Some of them are out of the streets, some are in our jails and some are in our ERs.”

Seidel said that although they have had to make many changes to services, they are not in danger of closing like some other centers around the state.

Seidel calls the governor’s office every day to encourage him to sign the bill and release their funding, but has never gotten through to Blagojevich.

“It’s excruciating,” Seidel said. “It is very painful that we are in the helping business and people come in that we cannot help.”

Seidel said Prairie Center estimates the cuts will affect 3,000 people in a year’s time. Most of the people Prairie Center treats are typically very low income, she added.

“We’re just hopeful that the governor restores the funding,” Seidel said. “Because its very much needed in this area.”