With the passage of Public Act 103-0594 in June of 2024, work began to build the Illinois Department of Early Childhood. Since that time, under the leadership of Dr. Teresa Ramos (appointed in December, 2024), work has been underway to build a state agency, along with an ambitious process to examine the complex web of current early childhood programs, funding and standards as well as to try to understand what is most important to parents and providers across the state.  

July 1, 2026 represents an important milestone in this process when most early childhood programs are scheduled to transition from their legacy agencies — the IL Department of Human Services (Child Care Assistance Program, Early Intervention and home visiting programs); the IL State Board of Education (Early Childhood Block Grant – Preschool for All, Prevention Initiative); and the IL Department of Children and Family Services (day care licensing). 

Start Early has been a part of the early childhood landscape in Illinois for more than 40 years – having helped shape and grow Illinois’ early childhood programs like home visiting and doula services, the Early Childhood Block Grant and the unique Infant-Toddler Set-Aside, which has helped ensure that we have grown infant and toddler services alongside those for preschool-aged children. We have been in this work not only as a policy and advocacy organization, but importantly as an early childhood service provider and funder across the state. We also have the opportunity to work with our colleagues in Raising Illinois, the state’s infant-toddler coalition, to focus on issues most important to serving our expecting families, babies, toddlers and those who care for them. 

Illinois Action for Children, Latino Policy Forum and Start Early applaud new state protections for families, children and professionals in early childhood centers. The bill, HB 1312, passed in October and was signed into law today. Amid heightened immigration enforcement efforts, the new law is a critical step forward in ensuring that every young child in Illinois can learn and grow in a safe, welcoming environment.

Illinois’ early childhood system is strongest when young children, families and its professionals feel safe in programs they depend on each day. HB 1312 helps ensure that licensed child care centers remain trusted, stable spaces – especially during a time when heightened immigration enforcement has created fear, confusion and barriers to access for many families. 

Among the legislation’s requirements, programs must: 

• Adopt clear policies and plans for interacting with law enforcement conducting civil immigration enforcement, including reviewing warrants and subpoenas 
• Establish procedures for seeking parental consent before releasing personal records, reinforcing trust between families and providers 
• Maintain updated emergency contact documentation and safe drop-off and pick-up protocols, ensuring children are only released to designated caregivers
• Notify families of immigration enforcement activity occurring at a center, ensuring transparency during moments of heightened concern

The bill also:

• Prevents licensed child care programs from disclosing or threatening to disclose information about the actual or perceived citizenship or immigration status of a child or associated person, unless required by federal or state law
• Directs the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (DEC) to offer accessible tools, including family preparedness plans, guardianship resources and information about constitutional rights

Together, these protections intend to help reassure families that they and their children will be safe enrolling and fully participating in early childhood programs – an essential priority for the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood. When families feel secure, children are better able to learn, grow and thrive.

IMPLEMENTATION MUST BEGIN IMMEDIATELY

Passing HB 1312 is only the first step. We urge action at every level to support swift and consistent implementation across the state.

To the Federal Government: Reinstate and expand “Sensitive Locations” policies prohibiting immigration enforcement in and around early learning and care settings. Federal legislation, such as H.R. 1061, would codify these protections and ensure families can access education and care without fear. 

To Governor Pritzker and Illinois State Agencies: Begin implementation of this new law without delay. State agencies must allocate resources, offer training and provide technical assistance so providers can build strong, trauma-informed procedures that both protect children and ensure compliance. Illinois has led the nation in expanding early childhood access, and ensuring safety and belonging will help us continue to demonstrate such leadership.

To Early Childhood Providers and Centers: We recognize the extraordinary care and thoughtfulness that early childhood programs already demonstrate every day. Many providers across Illinois have begun developing policies and practices to ensure that children, families and staff feel safe and supported. A number of existing resources – such as family preparedness templates, sample communication tools and guidance for responding to federal enforcement activity – may be helpful as programs consider how to strengthen their own procedures while sustaining family-centered environments.

For Parents, Caregivers & Families: Engage, prepare and plan ahead.

• Engage: Ask your center what procedures are in place to ensure safety for children and staff.
• Prepare: Update your emergency pick-up information and ensure the center has current contact numbers and a list of trusted adults.
• Plan Ahead: Talk with loved ones about who can pick up your child if needed, where important documents are stored and how to stay connected during emergencies.

A SHARED COMMITMENT

As organizations committed to supporting the well-being and health of families and young children, we celebrate HB 1312 as an affirmation of Illinois’ values. We look forward to working with Governor Pritzker, state agencies, local leaders and early childhood programs to support successful implementation and ensure that every child – regardless of background or immigration status – can access the safe, nurturing early care and education they deserve.

“Across the country, we are seeing how immigration enforcement can disrupt the stability young children rely on and create fear for families and educators. We also see the strength of early childhood programs as they continue to show up for children every day. Illinois’ action today affirms that every child and educator deserves to learn and work in a safe, welcoming environment. We hope this moment encourages state and federal leaders to follow Illinois’ lead and advance policies that protect our littlest ones and the people who care for them.”

Celena Sarillo, Executive Director – Illinois, Start Early

“Illinois has taken a historic step to safeguard the places where our youngest children learn and grow. These protections will only be as strong as their implementation, and we call on state partners to move quickly with training, resources, and hands-on support for providers. Families and educators are counting on all of us to ensure these policies are carried out with dignity, compassion and respect.” 

Linda Xóchitl Tortolero, President and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum 

“This bill signing comes at a critical time given recent immigration enforcement activities, and we applaud our Illinois lawmakers for taking this crucial step toward protecting our children, educators, and child care providers. Child care centers must be safe havens, not places of confusion, fear, or violence. Illinois Action for Children and our partners stand ready to support swift implementation of these protections as we maintain our focus on uplifting children and all who care for them.”

April Janney, CEO, Illinois Action for Children

In 9 months, the newly formed Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) will administer most of our state’s early childhood programs and services. Child care licensing will transition from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to the new agency and IDEC leadership has elevated licensing to one of its priority focus areas. This means that licensing will receive much needed updates to reflect the realities and experiences of child care educators and parents alike. As the department releases more information, Start Early will take a deeper dive into what these changes will mean for our child care landscape through a series of licensing blog posts.  

Start Early’s Point-of-View on Illinois’s Current Licensing System  

Our current licensing system is overly complicated and opaque, oftentimes leaving educators to navigate our complex system alone. Earlier this year, Start Early shared with IDEC leadership our concerns with the state’s current licensing system, along with recommendations for improvements.  

Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most significant pain points within child care licensing that we heard from educators through our engagement with the field and through our own organizational experience as a provider. 

• Background Check Delays: DCFS has not been able to establish adequate internal procedures to efficiently conduct background checks. Prospective employees  often wait several weeks for a background check clearance, leaving many to accept another job offer outside of the early care and education field. 
  • Recommendations: Create a background check portal that is user-friendly and has multiple capabilities to streamline background check processing (e.g. allows electronic signatures, clearly marks required fields, tracks progress, allows clearance letters to be printed). To allow for the creation of substitute pools, we also recommend that applications have the flexibility to be tied to more than one facility license number. Lastly, we asked IDEC to include a method to contact the background check unit for inquiries. 

• Inconsistencies Among Day Care Licensing Representatives (DCLRs): DCLRs’ knowledge and understanding of licensing policies and procedures vary, leading to an inconsistent application of licensing rules across programs. 
  • Recommendations: Conduct an audit of current DCLR training materials to understand where there are gaps and revise the orientation process. Streamline communication with DCLRs to ensure they are aware of and understand any changes to licensing policy or procedure. 

• Lack of Communication/Transparency: DCFS lacks a communication strategy with directors on a regular basis or across a common platform. Changes in licensing policy are typically communicated through DCLRs, who as mentioned above, do not have a uniform understanding of licensing policy. Also, information is scattered across various webpages, which oftentimes contain broken links.
  • Recommendation: Restart regional provider licensing forums as a space where educators may ask the Department questions. IDEC should also create a communication process to ensure that all educators receive the same information and understand how any changes to licensing policy should be applied. IDEC should create a central repository where all licensing-related documents are available to view and post facility monitoring reports in plain language. 

• Lack of Educator Support: Educators and center directors are often left to navigate complex licensing policies, with little-to-no support from DCFS. New providers wanting to enter the field are often overwhelmed with licensing standards.
  • Recommendation: IDEC should create policy interpretation guides, visuals, and resources that explain licensing policy in plain language, so licensing standards are easy for educators to understand and apply. Also, IDEC should translate all materials and designate a few Spanish speaking staff to offer technical assistance and support to Spanish speaking educators. 

For many parents of children with disabilities in Chicago, the 2025–2026 school year is off to a rocky start. Staffing changes at Chicago Public Schools’ Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) have been well-documented by the media, advocates, City Council and even OSD itself through a district-wide email. What has not been widely reported is how these sweeping changes are affecting the city’s youngest learners, for whom special education and related services are critical. 

Children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) enrolled in community-based early childhood programs (CBOs) have long faced barriers to receiving services. Because supports are delivered through CPS schools, families must “dually enroll” their children, spending half the day in their community-based program and half in a CPS school. Families often choose community-based programs because of language and cultural needs, safety, convenience or the need for full-day care. But once a child is found eligible for special education, families face a difficult choice: accept the logistical and emotional strain of dual enrollment, or forgo services altogether. 

Making this dual enrollment model work has always required strong collaboration between community-based staff and OSD. Even then, delays and disruptions are common: 

• Transportation paperwork errors prevent buses from arriving. 
• Children are assigned to schools in other neighborhoods, raising safety concerns. 
• CPS staff misunderstand dual enrollment and refuse to implement it. 
• Families grow so frustrated by the back-and-forth that they give up on services. 

Ensuring parents and providers have access to and are heard by those making laws and decisions is crucial and an integral part of the way Illinois Policy Team does our advocacy and policy work. Start Early’s National Home Visiting Summit offers an opportunity to bring together early childhood leaders from across the country to advance the home visiting field. 

It is also a chance to participate in advocacy through Hill Visits and meeting with the Congressional delegation to talk about the importance and impact of home visiting and funding for these programs. During this year’s summit, Start Early Illinois helped coordinate a group of advocates, including leaders in the field, program directors, home visitors, professional development providers, and families to meet with our state’s delegation while in Washington, D.C. 

Parent advocacy in home visiting will be particularly important as the field prepares for the next reauthorization of the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. The program is authorized through Federal Fiscal Year 2027, which means that Congress will need to reauthorize the program before the following fiscal year. As the field gears up to educate lawmakers on the importance of home visiting and raise key priorities for strengthening MIECHV, we encourage you to stay tuned to Start Early’s advocacy communications.   

Ensuring parents and providers have access to and are heard by those making laws and decisions is crucial and an integral part of the way Illinois Policy Team does our advocacy and policy work. Start Early’s National Home Visiting Summit offers an opportunity to bring together early childhood leaders from across the country to advance the home visiting field. 

It is also a chance to participate in advocacy through Hill Visits and meeting with the Congressional delegation to talk about the importance and impact of home visiting and funding for these programs. During this year’s summit, Start Early Illinois helped coordinate a group of advocates, including leaders in the field, program directors, home visitors, professional development providers, and families to meet with our state’s delegation while in Washington, D.C. 

The Illinois home visiting workforce plays a critical role in supporting young children and families, ensuring they receive the care, guidance and resources they need for a strong start in life. Recognizing the importance of recruiting and retaining a highly qualified workforce, and at the request of numerous advocates and programs over many years, the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Early Childhood (IDHS-DEC) released salary floors for their home visiting workforce in FY23, to be required starting in FY25. The newly released FY25 Illinois Home Visiting Compensation Report demonstrates the significant progress made—but also highlights the continued need for investment as IDHS-DEC and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) home visiting programs transition to the newly created Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) in FY26. 

Why Salary Floors Matter

The introduction of salary floors—on the recommendation of advocates and the Health and Home Visiting committee of the Illinois Early Learning Council—was a key step in addressing workforce challenges including recruitment, staff retention, disparities between programs and systemic under-compensation. By ensuring home visitors and supervisors receive a minimum level of compensation, IDHS-DEC has made meaningful strides toward building a more stable and supported workforce. 

According to the report, 100% of home visitors in IDHS-DEC and MIECHV programs now meet or exceed the mandated salary floor. Furthermore, 88% of supervisors are now meeting the recommended salary levels, even though their salary floor was not required by the state. This progress underscores that setting clear compensation expectations can drive real change, as well as potentially improve other factors, such as retention and the quality of services. There is a need for additional data in this area to determine whether these salary floors are sufficient, as well as precisely how salaries impact other aspects of home visiting programs and workforce retention. With the creation of IDEC, the state now has the opportunity to build this data into the structure of the Illinois home visiting system going forward.

In May of this year, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a $7M investment of the City’s Corporate Fund dollars to be distributed to 3,000 early care and education workers across Chicago, recognizing the need for increased compensation for this essential workforce. This investment resulted directly from the hard work of early care and education workers and advocates during last year’s budget engagement process and this year they are back to say the work is far from over. More investment is needed in 2026 to ensure children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn—and to support the professionals who care for and educate them in the years before school entry. 

Research shows that children who participate in high-quality early childhood programs are 25 times more likely to graduate from high school and four times more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree. They also experience better lifelong health outcomes and are less likely to become involved in the criminal justice system. Economists have found that these programs yield a 13% return on investment annually. 

Despite this evidence, too many Chicago children still enter kindergarten underprepared in math, literacy and social-emotional skills. This is due, in part, to ongoing gaps in access to early learning programs. 

2026 Chicago Early Childhood Budget Priorities 

To address these challenges, advocates are calling for targeted increases in the City’s 2026 budget: 

• $10 million increase for the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) Children’s Services Division to: 
  • Sustain 2025 wage increases for 3,000 early care and education providers 
  • Expand these wage increases to reach thousands of additional early childhood educators 
• $1 million investment to expand the Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship, allowing over 100 additional early educators to pursue degrees and enter the workforce. 
• $2 million restoration funding to the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Family Connects Chicago program, which experienced a $4.7 million funding cut in 2025. Family Connects provides postpartum nurse home visits to ensure birthing families get a healthy start. 

Contact your alderman now to ask them to support these requests.  

While the immediate budget requests are vital, stakeholders are also calling on the Mayor’s Office and City Council to begin building toward a long-term vision: establishing a dedicated revenue stream to sustainably support early childhood services across Chicago. 

Cities like Denver, San Antonio and Seattle have successfully created voter-approved children’s funds to guarantee stable funding for early learning, afterschool and youth development programs. Chicago can—and should—do the same. 

Over the weekend, the Illinois General Assembly approved a Fiscal Year 2026 state budget that includes a substantial increase in funding for the state’s child care system. Unfortunately, the spending plan maintains current funding levels for other critical early childhood programs – a departure from the multi-year investments pledged by Governor JB Pritzker in 2023 as part of the administration’s Smart Start Illinois initiative. We expect the governor to sign and approve this final budget package soon.

“Start Early commends Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly for their continued commitments to ensure Illinois families have the resources they need to thrive,” Start Early Illinois’ Executive Director Celena Sarillo said. “Although this final budget does not include all of the early childhood funding for which families and providers advocated, we are ready to work with policymakers, advocates and families this upcoming year to continue expanding access and strengthening programs and services, like preschool, home visiting and Early Intervention, that give children their best chance at success in school and in life.”

The budget package contains $85 million in new state funding for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and $90 million in new funding for Smart Start Workforce Grants (SSWG). The CCAP dollars will allow the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to raise reimbursement rates for home providers while accommodating a growing caseload and avoiding harmful waitlists and delayed payments. Additional funding for the SSWG program enables IDHS to maintain existing grants to programs.

Start Early is disappointed by the decision to flat-fund the Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG), the Maternal and Child Home Visiting (MCHV) program and the Early Intervention (EI) program despite an earlier commitment from the Pritzker Administration to increase spending on the programs in FY26 as part of its original Smart Start Illinois plan.

“Amid an uncertain and evolving federal landscape, Start Early is grateful that our state’s leaders remained focused on moving forward a balanced budget that aims to protect Illinois communities first and supports families and those who care for them,” Start Early Vice President of Illinois Policy Ireta Gasner said. “However, additional funding is needed to ensure timely services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays and a well-prepared and compensated workforce – both of which are foundations of an equitable early childhood system. This budget is a small step forward, but much is left to be done.”

Notably, in April, IDHS announced a rate increase for Early Intervention providers, which is to be funded by accumulated Medicaid dollars. The rate increase, informed by the new EI cost model and service delay data, prioritizes service providers with reimbursement rates currently below 50% of the modeled cost. While the administration’s plan to increase rates for many providers next year is a welcome one, the increase represents only a fraction of what is needed to stabilize the EI system. As such, we are disappointed with the final appropriation for EI, as we believe the approved budget is inadequate to address the ongoing workforce crisis and distressingly high service delays.

Here are the specifics of what’s in the final package:

• $85 million increase for the Child Care Assistance Program at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) for caseload growth and rate increases for home providers
• $90 million increase for the Smart Start Workforce Grants at IDHS to replace expiring federal funds
• Early Intervention provider rate increase (learn more)
• $7.5 million increase in operations funding for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood

No additional funding for the following programs was included:

• The Early Childhood Block Grant at the Illinois State Board of Education, which supports the state’s Prevention Initiative, Preschool for All and Preschool for All Expansion programs
• The Early Intervention program at IDHS
• Evidence-based home visiting programs at IDHS
• The Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) scholarship program

These legislative victories and increased appropriations were achieved only because of the unwavering dedication of parents, providers, and advocates across Illinois. With substantial work still needed to close critical funding gaps for programs like EI and ECACE, we look forward to continuing the work of making Illinois the best state in America in which to raise young children.

* * * *

Several other important measures impacting the early care and education system – and the families and workforce who are a part of it – were approved by the legislature this session, including:

• HB3439 (Rep. Mason, Sen. Johnson) – improves basic child care licensing functions in the short-term by codifying into law existing DCFS guidance regarding provisional hiring and requiring staff background checks to be completed every five years instead of every three years.
• HB3327 (Rep. Yang Rohr, Sen. Villivalam) – improves the Early Intervention (EI) referral process for babies born into a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by requiring hospital staff to initiate a written referral for families whose children are automatically eligible for EI services.
• SB1555 (Sen. Loughran Cappel, Rep. Hirschauer) – adds the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) as an ex-officio voting member to the Advisory Council on the Education of Children with Disabilities
• HB3446 (Rep. Canty, Sen. Loughran Cappel) – requires IDEC to publish and update annually a comprehensive list of college early childhood courses child care teacher and director candidates can take to meet required qualifications. The bill also requires IDEC to create a process to verify which early childhood courses make the list.
• SB406 (Sen. Aquino, Rep. Mason) – requires IDEC to establish an Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) that will be used to make equity driven, inclusive, and data-informed decisions within the early childhood system.
• SB2437 (Sen. Aquino, Rep. Moeller) – the Medicaid omnibus, which includes language that requires hospitals and birthing centers to allow patients to have Medicaid-approved doulas present during all phases of labor and birth. The doula will not count toward the number of guests permitted to a patient.