Blogs

Read the top stories in early care and education (and more) for the week of August 21:

Happy summer, early learning advocates! This issue will focus on some of the recent legislative proposals coming out of Washington D.C. related to early childhood programs and services. Read more :

As of July 1, 2019 the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) made policy changes that will help families start and continue to receive financial help for quality child care programs! CCAP is a child care subsidy program for income-eligible families with children under the age of 13. Currently, Illinois has the 8 th -most expensive infant and toddler care in the nation. ( Illinois Risk & Reach Report , 2019 ) The updates include: Decreased Family Co-Payments: Parent co-pays will decrease to no more than 9 percent of a family’s gross income, down 2.38 percent from previous years. That means for a family of 3 with a monthly income of $3,023-$3,200 ...

Read the top stories in early care and education (and more) for the week of June 12:

Chicago – This year marks five decades that Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), a 501c(3) nonprofit, charity organization, has worked to ensure that all children in Illinois—especially children living in poverty—have access to high-quality early childhood care, education, and other vital resources—and that parents are supported in their goals of economic self-sufficiency and stability. Celebrating the Past In 1969 in Chicago, a small group of passionate, politically-active women led by IAFCs founder, Sylvia Cotton, decided to take action in response to the way poverty was adversely affecting urban families. That’s what drove Sylvia and her colleagues ...

Read the top stories in early care and education (and more) for the week of June 5:

Read the top stories in early care and education (and more) for the week of May 8:

In response to the article “ Pritzker’s budget: New taxes and revenue, and where spending would rise ,” it’s important to note the governor has prioritized early care and education — and the well-being of Illinois’ working families — in his proposed budget. Under the previous administration, many services children and working families depend on were slashed. The Child Care Assistance Program, which enables low-income working parents to afford child care so they can work, serves 40,000 fewer children today than before the 2015 eligibility restrictions were put into place. Home visiting programs — which improve the life trajectory of expectant and new families ...