Contacts: Susana Martinez, Alliance for Community Services 773-318-8299 or Elijah Edwards, AFSCME Local 2858 773-744-8525.
From Press Release:
On March 19, 2025, a protest was held by workers and consumers at the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) offices in Lincolnwood, Illinois with pickets, chants, and speakers over bad conditions .
Protesters say they are speaking out because the Lincolnwood Family and Community Resource Center (aka ‘public aid’) has dangerous conditions, violations of consumer privacy, and management fails to uphold contractual agreements. These issues have remained unresolved even after repeated complaints.
The office has several safety hazards. Caseworkers are forced to conduct interviews near the entrance of the building or at their desks, blocking aisles, creating fire hazards and privacy violations. Workers also are concerned about poor air quality and water safety but management has failed to respond adequately. Additionally, management has repeatedly mishandled contractual remote work agreements with employees, increasing risks of contracting infectious diseases. These incidents are part of a pattern of mistreatment that has worsened since the office’s relocation and renaming.
“We are fed up with top DHS management failing to treat consumers and workers with the respect we deserve. Just because we’re poor and disabled doesn’t mean we don’t matter,” said DHS consumer Kathy Powers. “Besides these problems, we are still waiting for the promised re-opening of the DHS community office for the Uptown area, closed 8 years ago. There continues to be a great lack of accessibility, understaffing, and toxic management. Management can no longer brush off the complaints, workers and consumers deserve better services”.
Brittany Adams VP of AFSME Local 2858 stated, “We workers are people who are trying to deliver services like Medicaid and food stamps to people who need them. The lack of respect from management, poor conditions, and understaffing has caused both workers and consumers to suffer. We need to put the ‘human’ back into human services”.
An alarming concern is the violation of consumer privacy. “In many instances, caseworkers are asked to violate clients’ HIPAA and PIPA rights by interviewing them in areas where their information is not safe: people can walk by, look in, or even just listen into conversations and potentially steal sensitive client information,” workers stated in a letter.
Workers are calling on the public to take action by reaching out to local politicians, filing complaints with the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), and joining in the effort to pressure DHS management to improve services and conditions at their offices.
