Illinois's budget impasse is forcing the Will County Health Department's decision to lay off 53 employees. And the lay-offs will have an impact on some 52-thousand clients, many of them children.

The layoffs follow a $2.1 million-dollar shortfall because of the state budget impasse. Nine health department programs are being suspended. Programs affected include adult psychiatric services, school vision and hearing tests, HIV prevention services and behavioral health services.

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