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This Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m., the House Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Committee plans to call for a vote on amended versions of HB3439 and HB3327.


Join us in supporting these bills by filing proponent witness slips today! If you've never filed a witness slip before, don't worry!
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We have a video tutorial to walk you through the process.


Learn more about the bills below:

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HB3439 , House Committee Amendment 1 (Representative Joyce Mason) – Child care providers have, for years, raised concerns about the DCFS’s licensing functions, including delays in the processing of background checks and a general lack of transparency. HB3439, if approved, will improve day care licensing in Illinois in the short-term while the state plans for broader changes to the licensing system with the creation of the Department of Early Childhood.


The bill, as amended:

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Requires staff background check delays by requiring staff renewals take place every five years, instead of every three years, per federal guidance; and

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Codifies into law existing DCFS guidance regarding provisional hiring

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File a witness slip in support of HB3439 (HCA1).

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HB3327 , House Committee Amendment 1 (Representative Janet Yang Rohr) – Many infants become automatically eligible for Early Intervention (EI) services because they’re born with a medical diagnosis known to have a high chance of causing a developmental delay, including extremely low birth weight, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy, among others. Most of these eligible infants are not getting Early Intervention services, though; in fact, Illinois infants under one year of age represent just 1.2% of children served in the EI program. This failure to connect eligible children born into NICUs is particularly striking; in a recent study, some 77% of study participants were unsuccessful in connecting with the EI system by their three-month NICU follow-up visit despite being
automatically eligible for services based on a clear medical condition/diagnosis. HB3327, if approved, will improve the EI referral process for babies born into a NICU.


The bill, as amended:

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Requires NICU staff to share information about the EI program to all families.

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Requires hospital staff to initiate a written referral to the EI program for families whose children are currently eligible for the program.

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File a witness slip in support of HB3327 (HCA1).

Thank you for speaking up for children and families across the state!



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