Suburban Chicago teens' pay for summer jobs held up for weeks due to issues with state grants

CBS News

08-08-2025

After weeks of wondering if they would get paid for their summer jobs, some south suburban Chicago teens are finally getting their paychecks.
The six relieved teens were cheering Thursday. But over the past several weeks, they had nothing to smile about.
"I was pretty upset," said David Garcia. "I waited two weeks, three weeks. I'm like, when am I going to get paid?"
"I'm like what's happening, what's going on?" said Alahna Davis. "I need answers to my questions."
"I was very frustrated, honestly, being that I'm in college," said Ella Kazembe. "You know, I'm trying to save up."
The teens all worked hard doing various summer jobs.
"It was my first summer job," said Nancy Bustos.
They renovated classrooms, worked with children at daycares, and even did landscaping work in the heat.
"Oh I was sweating a lot," said David. "I was hard working, hard working."
Yet in July, the youngsters were among 108 teenagers who woke up one morning to some surprising news.
"I got an email saying, 'Do not come to work,'" said Nancy.
"She was explaining the situation, saying that there was a problem with the money being transferred," said Ella.
The teens were hired through the Cook County Southland Juvenile Justice Council, which provided CBS News Chicago documents showing that back in April, the State of Illinois awarded them two grants for a total of $253,000.
But the state had only transferred $17,000 by mid-July.
"We didn't want to give them no false pretenses and no false hope," said Cook County Southland Juvenile Justice Council chief executive officer James Lyles.
Lyles said he sounded the alarm with the state in mid-June. State records show two payments for $100,000, and another for $136,000, were finally transferred on Aug. 1. The Illinois comptroller's website shows that the payment was supposed to transfer an entire month earlier on July 1.
So what caused the delay?
Lyles said when the fiscal year ended on June 30, the state had to issue a one-day contract, which took 30 days to process — an issue he wants the state to address moving forward.
"We need to know that, do you have capability and capacity to do these things while you're offering these contracts time and time again, and not put us in a position where, you know, we have to give comfortable answers to uncomfortable questions with these kids," said Lyles.
And while their pay came very late, the teens are no longer stressed now that they have it.
"Just be patient," said Ella. "Honestly, good things take time."
To further ensure they will not have the issue with the state grants again, the Cook County Southland Juvenile Justice Council said it is considering getting a commitment in writing that the state will pay the teens in addition to the grant approval.
The teens now have the cash many needed for college move-ins, which are just days away.