A bigger deal than yesterday’s firing of traffic aides: 24 layoffs in the Division of Family and Support Services, which will eliminate the overnight shift serving the homeless. As Dan Mihalopolous and Hunter Clauss note, the cuts necessitating the layoffs don’t come from the city—which could, in theory, shift funds to DFFS—but from the state.

And we were warned:

A statement sent out by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless says that 41 percent, or $10 million, of the money for homeless services have been cut in the last four years and another $11 million is on the chopping block in the proposed FY 2012 budget.

By the numbers, from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (PDF):

:

And the cuts are coming from even higher up:

Chicago’s allocation of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding for 2011-2012 fell by approximately $5.2 million compared to last year. The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) described substantial funding cuts during a presentation [PDF] during the Chicago Workforce Investment Board’s quarterly meeting on June 14.

The same thing is happening in Seattle.

Photograph: Joe Marinaro (CC by 2.0)