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State Reports

Items listed under State Reports have been received by the Documents Unit, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually available from public libraries in the state through inter-library loan. Issuing agencies may have copies available. For items listed under Other Reports, write to the publisher as noted.

State Reports

Farming and Protecting the Environment, Office of Public Information, 2200 Churchill Rd., P.O. Box 19276, Springfield 62794-9276 (February 1990), 22pp.

The IEPA carries out its mandate to protect the environment by regulating various industries, including farming. This booklet, a valuable manual for farmers as well as nonfarmers who live near agricultural areas, explains the regulations in such areas as livestock waste, water pollution, air pollution, solid waste and noise pollution. It also lists some of the extremely hazardous substances that are frequently used by farmers and briefly describes a number of other laws (in addition to the Environmental Protection Act) that regulate farming. In addition, it provides names of agencies which offer assistance with environmental problems.

Ninety for the '90s: Painting the Future by the Numbers, Illinois Department on Aging, 421 E.Capitol, Springfield 62701 (June 1990), 63pp.

In fall 1989 the Department on Aging invited 90 Illinois citizens to participate in a series of discussions throughout the state on the implications of aging demographics for the 1990s. This report presents the recommendations and major issues raised during those discussions. Topics covered include caregiving, information and information access, health, housing, employment, financial planning and health and retirement benefits, special needs populations, and opportunities for older citizens.

The Road to Better Health for All of IIlinois, Illinois Department of Public Health, 535 W. Jefferson, Springfield 62761 (March 1990), 65pp.

From early 1988 until late 1989 the Road-map Implementation Task Force looked into the role of state and local governments in public health and discussed ways to improve those governments' capacity to fulfill their roles. Basic to the task force's 29 recommendations is the principle that most public health services are best provided at the local level. The recommendations cover seven areas: marketing, statutory authority, organizational characteristics, accountability, financing, education and basic public health services.

■   1990 Report to Congress, Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities. 830 S. Spring, Springfield 62704 (December 1989), 343pp. plus appendices; an 8-page public summary is also available.

In fulfillment of a 1987 federal law, Illinois and the other 55 states and territories prepared analyses of consumer satisfaction and state delivery systems in the area of developmental disabilities. These were presented to Congress in May 1990. The Illinois report was compiled on the basis of several surveys, an analysis of 10 federally funded state programs, and a series of public forums. Critical issues are cited in several areas: consumer services, residential services, employment services, education, transportation, health/mental health, state service delivery system, and independence, productivity and integration.

■  Long-Term Care Insurance in Illinois, Department of Insurance, 320 W. Washington, Springfield 62767 (May 1990), 67pp.

This report by the Illinois Task Force on Long-Term Care Insurance is the result of a three-year study to find ways to encourage private insurers to offer long-term care insurance. It focuses on problems and potential solutions in five areas: design and marketing of new long-term care insurance policies, data sources, legislation, government health and social service programs for the elderly, and consumer awareness.

Other Reports

■  All Our Children Can Make the Grade, Voices for Illinois Children, 53 W. Jackson, Suite 515, Chicago 60604 (1990), 64 pp.

Since 1985 Illinois has provided funds for the Prekindergarten Program for Children at Risk of Academic Failure. The program now serves almost 19,000 children. This report documents the program's progress and recommends changes that would make it more effective.

■  Every Child's Right: A Film About Establishing Paternity, Illinois Task Force on Child Support, 53 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 1006, Chicago 60604; (length of video, 15:22), $35.

In 1986 more than 25 percent of the children born in this state were born to unmarried parents; in Chicago the figure stood at 49 percent. Almost 20 percent of these children were born to teen parents. This video explores the financial and emotional benefits of legal paternity, including such issues as child support, medical insurance and the importance of knowing about a father's family and medical history. Designed for individuals and groups who work with young people, the video comes with a study guide. The Task Force on Child Support also has a number of other products available: Child Support in Illinois: How It Works and What To Do When It Doesn't (24 pp., $5); Your Child's Parent and You: A Guide to Establishing Parentage in Illinois (available for $1), and Parentage . . . From the Father's Point of View, which deals with a father's legal rights and the benefits of establishing paternity ($1). The task force has been in existence since 1983 and is the only nonprofit organization in Illinois that provides information, referral services and individual case advocacy to custodial parents; it also conducts community-based workshops on child support.

■  No Time to Waste: How Communities Can Reap Economic Benefits From the Shift to Recycling, Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2125 W. North Ave., Chicago 60647 (1989), 31 pp.; $5.

The premise of this handbook is that recycling ventures can be financed not only through the value of the materials collected, but also by the value of the service they provide by taking materials out of the disposal system entirely. It suggests that recycling offers jobs and economic benefits to people with few other marketable skills. In addition to showing how communities can organize such an economic development effort, it has a list of publications, trade associations, resource groups and experts that can help local groups get involved in recycling. The Center for Neighborhood Technology has been in existence since 1978. Its mission is to seek affordable, appropriately scaled, locally controlled ways for city residents to meet basic needs for food, shelter, energy, jobs and a healthy environment. In addition to its bimonthly newsletter, The Neighborhood Works (yearly subscription, $25), the center has published numerous other studies and pamphlets on such diverse topics as strategies for making neighborhoods work, school reform and Commonwealth Edison.

■   The DuPage County Burden: A Property Tax Study. Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois (TFI), 201 E. Adams, Suite 353, Springfield 62701 (March 1990), 47 pp.; $10.

According to this study, there is little evidence that the property tax rates in DuPage County are excessively high, although the residential taxes are exceedingly high compared to the state as a whole. The reason for this is the combination of the moderately high rates with the rapidly increasing assessments and tax levies from some local governmental units. To address this situation, the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois makes five recommendations: Government officials should demonstrate greater sensitivity to the rapid growth in taxation in the county; independent governmental bodies that share the same tax base should coordinate plans for capital investment; civic organizations should be encouraged to address the issue of an appropriate level of government spending; taxpayers should have access to comparative data about their tax bills and candidates for public office; and further study should be undertaken on a series of specific issues.

Anna J. Merritt

August & September 1990/Illinois Issues/69


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