In Decatur, Pritzker announces plans to provide child care for $1 a month

Jun. 29—DECATUR — The Decatur Family YMCA on Tuesday was the backdrop for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to announce new funding for low-income people to get assistance paying for child care. The financing is seen as a tool to restart the post-COVID economy and get people back to work.

"When I took office, I said we are aiming to make Illinois the best state in the nation for families raising young children," he said. "We are making a series of new investments to make child care more affordable for Illinois families and to deliver more dollars to providers."

The governor's office estimates 80% of families will pay less for child care. The funding is through the Illinois Department of Human Services Child Care Assistance Program.

Beginning on Thursday, families at or below the federal poverty level, or $26,500 for a family of four, will pay $1 a month for child care and capping the cost of child care at 7% of income, which he said is significantly below national averages.

"This change is not a temporary, pandemic-related change," Pritzker said. "This is a permanent policy change for the state of Illinois."

The Pritzker administration has provided $270 million in funding to child care providers as part of the state's federally-funded Business Interruption Grant Program, along with additional money from federal coronavirus relief packages.

Another change is increasing the eligibility for families who qualify for assistance to those whose incomes are 250% of the poverty level, up from 225%. Reimbursements for child care providers who receive Child Care Assistance Payments will also be increased, Pritzker said.

"In the worst throes of the pandemic, Illinois dedicated $290 million to 5,000 child care centers and homes in 95 counties in our state, including the Decatur Family YMCA, helping them stay afloat during this challenging year," Pritzker said.

That program will continue with another $280 million funded by federal COVID relief funds, he said.

Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou said families can visit illinoiscaresforkids.org to sign up for child care assistance, which will help parents get back to work.

"In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of child care centers had to close," Hou said. "But we needed to protect this extremely important system."

Child care is essential to the economy, said Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, whose sister is a licensed child care provider.

"Finding reasonable, reliable child care has never been easy," Turner said. "And add to the mix a global pandemic that has caused job losses, pay cuts and other financial crunches, and it's no wonder that parents need assistance now more than ever."

A lack of child care can put parents in the position of choosing between their jobs and caring for their kids, said Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, and with the number of child care centers reduced, and available spots reduced because of fewer workers, the need is acute. Her own daughter has faced that problem, with a six-month wait for a vacancy at a center.

"This is so much more than child care assistance," Scherer said.

There are 2,000 job openings in Macon County alone, said Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe, and one reason for those openings is that families can't find child care so they can go back to work.

"I am hoping beyond hope that this critical piece helps us heal our economy and recover from the pandemic in Decatur and Macon County, because we've got to get people back to work," she said.

Zamira Manns, a mother of two, recently returned to work after surgery. She said finding child care was an issue and sent the youngest, now 3, to the Decatur YMCA.

The child care center serves kids 2-12, and Manns qualifies for the financial assistance.

"I always had family to count on," she said. "But after the surgery, I decided I wanted (the younger boy) to advance more."

Manns said she can see the difference in the younger boy's development, and attributes it to the fact that he wants to keep up with the other kids and has the structure of the program at the Y.

Pritzker also announced on Tuesday that $54 million will be devoted to increasing the pay for at-home caregivers for the elderly. The Illinois Department on Aging and Department of Human Services will issue a bonus payment for services rendered by eligible providers between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2021, to make up for the rate increase that was frozen until April 1. Providers will receive an additional rate increase on Jan. 1, 2022, paving the way for employees to receive a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

"These are essential workers. These are people that we could not have survived without during the pandemic, and these are people that deserve to earn a few extra dollars per hour," the governor said.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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