Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration will use $79 million in federal COVID relief money to help pay for costs associated with Favorite Healthcare Staffing – the Kansas-based company the city hired to staff the city’s migrant shelters, NBC 5 Investigates has learned.
The latest spending increase – signed last week – does not extend the contract terms but now brings the total value of Favorite’s contract to more than $149 million.
Favorite Staffing has faced public criticism over shelter conditions and the company’s high-priced invoices, which have cost the city more than $96 million so far, according to the city’s migrant spending portal.
An NBC 5 Investigation last fall found the company routinely billed the city for 84 hours per week for its employees – including overtime. The Johnson administration has said it has since worked to reduce the hourly rates and encouraged the company to hire locally to avoid inflated rates used to cover housing and transportation costs for employees.
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It’s the third contract spending increase for Favorite Healthcare Staffing since the City of Chicago renewed its $40 million contract in October to provide staffing at the city’s 28 migrant shelters.
On December 29, Johnson signed a $30 million spending increase.
Just last week, the mayor’s office confirmed to NBC 5 Investigates that the increases were used to pay for the costs of invoices. Favorite’s contract currently runs through October 2024.
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In an emailed statement Tuesday, Ronnie Reese, a spokesman for Mayor Johnson said: “these are ARPA funds and the costs they are utilized for are from 2023, not new costs in 2024.”
NBC 5 Investigates also reached out to Favorite through a spokeswoman who deferred contract questions back to the mayor’s office.
When asked why Favorite didn’t testify at Tuesday’s hearing, a spokesperson for the company said: “DFSS staff appeared at the hearing to answer questions about the shelters, including Favorite Healthcare Staffing. (Company) representatives were not present.”
Questions about Favorite have only increased in recent months after internal memos surfaced showing the Johnson administration was aware in late October about pests, food concerns and illnesses in the city’s largest shelter in Pilsen.
Cell phone videos shared by migrants have shown water dripping from ceilings at the city’s largest shelter in Pilsen where 2,500 people have been staying.
The death of 5-year old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero, who collapsed and died on December 17 at a Pilsen shelter only amped up questions about healthcare and conditions at city migrant shelters.
Beatriz Ponce de Leon, the city’s Deputy Mayor of Immigrants, Migrants and Refugee told NBC 5 Investigates Tuesday: “It was conflated in many ways that the child died as a result of being in that shelter - there’s no evidence to that. We don’t know yet why that child passed away but as soon as there is a closure we will be able to share a conclusion to that.”
A spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told NBC 5 Investigates there was no update on the child’s cause of death.
On Monday, the Johnson administration again postponed enforcement of its 60-day shelter stay limit just days before nearly 2,000 migrants were expected to be evicted from their shelters. Under the new extension, migrants will be able to stay in their shelters from as early as mid-March to as late as the end of April.
With only 7,500 migrants eligible for housing assistance and roughly 1,000 or more work permits issued, Ponce de Leon was asked if the City was concerned about the real possibility of some of the migrants becoming homeless?
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate against people who are experiencing homelessness. As we talk to the county and state about that – it is a consideration,” she said before adding that the city is advocating for more flexible federal dollars that could be used for housing, transportation and healthcare.
There are also efforts underway to coordinate with the county, state and charitable organizations to address potential housing gaps in the future.
