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It’s the final weeks of the state legislative session! Even if you’ve taken this action before, please do so again at this critical point in time.
This February, Governor JB Pritzker’s FY25 budget proposal included a $6 million increase for the state’s Early Intervention (EI) program, which provides critical services to infants and toddlers who have or are at risk for significant developmental delays and disabilities. However, a $40 million increase is needed to help ensure equitable access to necessary developmental services and supports known to improve a child’s lifelong trajectory dramatically.
The percentage of families waiting for EI services has more than doubled over the last two years. Service delays are tied directly to the program’s ongoing workforce crisis. Children in the EI program are legally entitled to these services in a timely manner, so we must invest in the workforce now to reduce delays for families.
Contact your state legislators to ask for $40 million in new funding in FY25 for the Early Intervention program, which would allow the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to address immediate and future program needs and respond to growing caseloads, increasing service delays, and an impending workforce crisis.
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Even if you’ve already contacted your lawmaker, please do so again! It will take all of us being in regular contact with our lawmakers to ensure that Early Intervention has the funding to alleviate the current crisis. Thank you in advance for helping make Illinois the best state in the nation in which to raise a child.
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