Illinois’ Early Intervention (EI) system is currently in crisis, resulting in thousands of families of eligible infants and toddlers with delays or disabilities across the state experiencing long waitlists for services, with service delays having nearly doubled in just the past two years. EI providers, many of whom have advanced degrees, are choosing to leave EI and work instead in hospitals, school, private practice or other settings with better benefits and higher pay. The state has invested in cross-state research and cost modeling that shows Illinois provider reimbursement rates are significantly lower than other states, and far below the true cost of delivering services. This provider shortage, combined with high caseloads and low compensation have led to high turnover within the field and unfilled vacancies, all of which have a substantial impact on the children and families waiting for EI services to begin.
To address this crisis, this October, Start Early and Raising Illinois launched the Babies Can’t Wait: We Need Early Intervention campaign with a virtual kick-off event and held nine local rallies and press conferences across the state over ten days. In partnership with our hosting organizations (Advance Preschool, Autism Society, Champaign County Home Visiting Consortium, COFI, Early Childhood Forum of Central IL, Good Shepherd Center, Illinois Developmental Therapy Association, SAL Community Services, Southern IL Coalition for Children and Families, SPARK, and United Palatine Coalition), we were able to bring over 1,000 advocates together in-person and virtually to call for the urgent need for a $60M additional investment to address the current crisis in our state’s Early Intervention program. In addition to making their voices heard at the rallies, EI families have started an online petition which has garnered over 2,100 signatures in support of the $60M increase for EI in the FY26 state budget, and many families and providers have been featured in media coverage of the campaign in outlets like Capitol News, Chicago Tonight and Chronicle Illinois.
