Our Response to Governor Pritzker's Proposed Budget

Last week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker again demonstrated his continued commitment to young children and their families by proposing a Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) state budget that includes funding increases for preschool, child care, Early Intervention and evidence-based home visiting programs as part of his multi-year Smart Start Illinois initiative. He also highlighted his signature legislative proposal for the spring session, the creation of the Department of Early Childhood, an important step in our work to transform the state’s early childhood system so it works better for children, families and providers alike.


“To build the early childhood system our youngest learners deserve, it’s our belief that Illinois must approve significant increases in state funding every year for the core programs and services that infants, toddlers and preschoolers need,”
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said Ireta Gasner, Start Early vice president of Illinois policy. “We thank Governor Pritzker for his thoughtful budget approach and look forward to working with the Illinois General Assembly to enact a budget that funds Smart Start Illinois and doesn’t leave infants and toddlers with disabilities and delays behind.”


While we applaud the Governor's commitment, we remain concerned that this funding falls below the level needed to address the issues facing our early childhood system. Start Early is eager to work with the Illinois General Assembly to approve an FY25 budget this spring that includes, at a minimum, the funding proposals laid out today and provides more significant increases for Early Intervention and ECACE scholarships.

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Join us in calling on our state legislature to prioritize our youngest learners in FY25.









Know Your Rights!
Early Intervention Timelines and Petition for Increased Funding

After being referred to the Illinois Early Intervention (EI) Program, families have the right to:

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Be contacted by their Child and Family Connections (CFC) office within two business days to answer questions and schedule an intake meeting.
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An evaluation of their child and an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) within 45 days of referral and consent to the evaluation. The IFSP must be reviewed at least once every six months and re-evaluated annually.
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Receive all services in their Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) no later than 30 days after they consent to their plan. The state must inform parents in writing of the timeline and of any alternative service options available to their family until an EI provider is identified.

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The Early Intervention Bureau has developed resources to ensure families are aware of these timelines, and if they are not being met, it is important that families
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file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS).


Children and families should not be waiting at all for services they are entitled to under federal law. Yet, thousands of families are currently on waiting lists for EI due to a workforce crisis, and Governor Pritzker’s proposed FY25 state budget falls short in responding to this crisis with only a $6M increase to the program.

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Sign and share this petition to urge additional investment in Early Intervention so that infants and toddlers with delays and disabilities and their families can receive these critical services in a more timely manner. Our babies can't wait.








Join us in Springfield on April 16!
Register Now for Early Childhood Advocacy Day! Calling all advocates!
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Join us in Springfield on April 16, 2024 for Early Childhood Advocacy Day!



Use your collective voice to express the importance of early childhood programs to lawmakers, and boost your knowledge with key information on legislative and budget issues that will affect the futures of children throughout the state. Join Start Early, Child Care for All, COFI, Illinois Action for Children, Latino Policy Forum, Raising Illinois, SEIU, and We, the Village in calling on the Illinois General Assembly to lend their support to the creation of the Department of Early Childhood, and urge them to prioritize investments in our youngest learners & their families as they finalize the Fiscal Year 2025 budget!



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Learn More About Illinois’ Efforts to Build UNSS Infrastructure
Universal Newborn Supports: A Review of Readiness

Regardless of zip code or family income, when welcoming a new baby, all parents and families could benefit from additional encouragement and support. However, expecting parents in nearly 60% of counties in Illinois live in maternity care deserts, and after bringing home a newborn, essential services can sometimes be even more difficult to access.


Illinois is working to build the necessary public infrastructure and funding systems to scale
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Universal Newborn Support Systems (UNSS) that provide free, voluntary, short-term home visiting and referral services to every family in the state at the birth of a new baby, to make connections to the supportive services and resources they may need and want.


While the ultimate goal of UNSS is to be universally available within every community, scaling UNSS programs is not likely to happen everywhere at once. Further, for a UNSS program to be successful, a community must already have resources available to which UNSS providers can refer parents. With this in mind, it becomes essential to understand where resources are available within the state, not only to determine where UNSS programs might be most effectively launched first, but also to pinpoint where additional resources and capacity-building work is needed. Our latest report,
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Universal Newborn Support Systems: A Review of Readiness , is a first step to understanding those questions.

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We invite you to read the full report, with the hope that it will serve as a catalyst for additional conversations not just about UNSS within Illinois, but about the resources available to new and expecting families across the country.









ECACE Report Demonstrates Program’s Success

The launch of the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) in 2021, was a hard-fought investment for members of our early childhood workforce. The program provides a holistic set of supports for early childhood staff seeking a credential, degree or endorsement including financial aid, higher education navigators and mentors. Although the Consortium has done much work to provide an easier pathway to higher education, the scholarship program is arguably its most critical aspect.


For most early childhood staff, continuing their education journey was cost prohibitive due to the field’s low wages. The ECACE scholarship provided a concrete path to higher education because it covered the cost of tuition/fees, room and board, and transportation. Since 2021, about 3,900 workforce members have received an ECACE scholarship to complete early childhood coursework at an Illinois institution of higher education.


Yet, despite the program’s success, federal funding is set to expire this year, putting the entire program at risk and ending critical source of financial aid and support for the workforce. Stay tuned for updates on how you can advocate to keep this vital program alive.


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Start Early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to close the opportunity gap.

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