As Illinois digs from its budget mess, it’s clear that cuts must be made. But some of the broad cuts aimed at social service agencies that help our state’s most at-risk populations will make it likely that taxpayers still are going to pay, one way or another.

A recent Northwest Herald story examined the issue of the population of McHenry County Jail inmates who have reported mental illnesses. Both anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that cuts in funding for programs that support the mentally ill simply are shoving the problem in another direction.