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Dear John,


Last month, we
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applauded the Illinois General Assembly and the Pritzker administration for increasing state dollars for the Early Intervention (EI) program by $12 million in the FY20 state budget. And today, we’re thrilled to report that after months of diligent discussion, the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), effective July 1, has agreed to use $5 million of the increased funding
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to raise reimbursement rates for all EI providers!

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Send a thank you message

The EI program serves infants and toddlers with a developmental delay or at risk for significant delay due to a medical diagnosis, including speech and language, occupational and physical therapies, and social work services. Families also receive the coaching and support they need to further the gains their children make in therapy.


The EI program is experiencing serious workforce challenges, in part because therapists had not received a raise in 11 years. A decade of stagnation presents a number of problems for the provider community, including higher caseloads and issues with recruitment and retention of staff.


This is why the Ounce, in partnership with the Illinois Developmental Therapy Association, Illinois Action for Children, Sargent Shiver National Center on Poverty Law and Legal Council for Health Justice, among others, worked all spring to increase funding for EI and subsequently raise reimbursement rates. And we did it!


The overdue pay bump for EI providers is a huge victory that would not have been possible without support from the governor’s office and leadership from
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Rep. Deb Conroy and
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Sen. Omar Aquino , both of whom championed this initiative all session. Additional thanks go to
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Rep. Robyn Gabel and
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Sen. Heather Steans for leading the Human Services appropriations process in the House and Senate, respectively.

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Please take a minute to send a thank you to these champions for early childhood.


This is just one significant win in our ongoing work to strengthen the state’s EI program, but certainly a win worth celebrating.




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