Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is defending its decision to renew a lucrative $40 million contract with Favorite Healthcare Staffing to staff the city’s migrant shelters through October of 2024.
NBC 5 Investigates was first to report the news of the new agreement on Wednesday.
Over the past month, a series of NBC 5 Investigates reports exposed how the Kansas-based company has been paid more than $56 million within the past year and has routinely billed the city at 84 hours a week – including overtime – for most of its employees who worked at migrant shelters spread across Chicago.
Our review of previous invoices found that during one week, Favorite billed the city for as much as $580,000 for one shelter, the Inn of Chicago, the city’s largest shelter that houses more than 1,500 migrants.
If the company continues to bill at similar rates of 84 hours per week for each worker, it could lead to Chicago taxpayers having to shoulder six-figure annual pay rates for each of the workers, running between $220,000 to $850,000 per worker – even with the newly reduced pay rates.
Starting Oct. 1, hourly rates will run between $40 to $156 per hour.
Which…
