Consolidated, ‘compassionate’ services pledged for new Illinois Department of Early Childhood

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed a law creating a separate Department of Early Childhood that will make it “simpler, better and fairer” for families seeking assistance and care for the state’s youngest residents.

The agency’s creation comes after five years of study that started with a commission and determined that Illinois families faced a Byzantine bulwark in trying to obtain services often ensconced in disparate agencies: the State Board of Education and the departments of Human Services and Healthcare and Family Services.

“For years, they have navigated a system that is too often overly complex and sometimes completely disjointed,” Pritzker said at Eyes On The Future Child Development Center in Chicago. “Our state-funded early childhood programs operate across three different state agencies, putting an unnecessary burden on families looking for support and on those providing the support that is truly needed.”

Illinois becomes the fourth state in the nation to devote an executive branch agency to early development, according to the Education Commission of the States. Georgia and Maryland swept various offices serving children and families into early childhood departments as early as 2004. Alabama underwent a similar shakeup in 2015.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> 175 years ago, the US stole land from a Prairie Band Potawatomi chief. Illinois may soon return it </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline