CM – Pritzker Announces $ 1.6 Billion in Federal Funding for Early Childhood Services – Illinois Newsroom

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SPRINGFIELD – Governor JB Pritzker announced Friday that $ 1.6 billion in federal funding will be allocated to early childhood education and childcare in Illinois.

The funds will be passed by Congress in March American rescue plan in place, Pritzker announced at a news conference in Aurora on Friday, and includes $ 140 million in direct childcare grants to be paid out over the next three weeks.

That announcement comes as the Illinois Equitable Early Education and Care Funding Commission, which Pritzker launched in 2019, released its Ready Illinois report earlier this month with recommendations for a revision of early childhood funding in the state.

Pritzker described the Funding Commission’s report as a roadmap for the Future of the state system of early childhood.

« [A system] that children with n Low income, children in rural communities, children with skin color and children with disabilities really protects and encourages, « Pritzker said. « One that makes it much easier for parents to get help, fund the early childhood programs more easily, and better address local needs in the community. »

To strengthen and centralize childcare, home visits, and early intervention services, announced Pritzker is also starting a new early childhood division in the Human Services division.

IDHS Secretary Grace Hou said the new division would officially open on July 1, but transition work would begin immediately.

 » With a new department focused solely on early childhood, we will continue to support and stabilize families, educators and carers throughout the remainder of the pandemic and beyond, « Hou said. « If we work to rebuild our early childhood system, we can also take steps towards the vision outlined in the commission’s report. »

Based on the recommendations from the funding commission’s report, Pritzker announced a network of planning councils for early childhood, to be established nationwide over the next 18 months, and the creation of an early childhood transformation team in collaboration with Northern Illinois University.

The planning councils will work with various community stakeholders to ensure that the special needs of different sectors of the state are met through early childhood services, while the transformation team helps advance the recommendations of the Commission and the Council.

« What the Commission is proposing represents a seismic shift from Status quo shows how early childhood is in d This should be the case, « said Pritzker.

 » These are changes that represent a sustained effort and require significant resources. However, a 1,000 mile journey starts with a single step, « he added. » Today we are not just taking any of those steps, but some of them along the way to begin this work. « 

In addition to investing in Early Childhood Education also hopes Pritzker will advance its mission of providing affordable childcare in the state.

When the pandemic first shut down many of the state’s businesses, the Pritzker government created an emergency pandemic childcare scholarship program, with the 5,000 $ 290 million was made available to daycare centers and homes in 95 counties in the state. This was also funded by federal COVID-19 aid.

« This allowed them to stay afloat for a really challenging year, and the funding provided support well beyond national standards. Families in need of childcare have been able to cut their costs out of pocket, « said Pritzker. » The program has been so successful that we will use the first of these new US bailout dollars to provide another round of funding. « 

Of the $ 1.6 billion federal funding the state received under the latest early childhood aid package, $ 140 million will go to childcare workers under this grant program, which can be used to pay rent or Maintenance of staff, materials and training will be used.

Senator Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, also spoke at the press conference about the importance of investing in childcare, saying it is the foundation for economic recovery from the pandemic .

« Parents may not have access to affordable childcare, making it very difficult to get back to work g or near impossible, « said Holmes. “This is the next important part of the foundation getting people back to work and stimulating the economy.”

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