ILLINOIS
Child Care Collaboration Program
BUILDING ON THE PROMISE:
PROFILES OF STATE INITIATIVES TO
BUILD ON EARLY HEAD START
INITIATIVE SUMMARY
The Illinois Child Care Collaboration Program promotes collaboration between child care and
other early care and education providers, including Early Head Start (EHS), by creating
policies to ease blending of funds to extend the day or year of existing services. While no
funding is provided through the initiative, participating programs may take advantage of
several child care rule exceptions that make it easier to access child care subsidy dollars to
extend the day/year of EHS services, including:
• Annual re-determination of family eligibility;
• Ninety-day job loss grace period; and
• Maintaining indefinite eligibility for families whose Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) Responsibility and Service Plan specifies the child or family’s
participation in the collaboration.
The program was piloted in 1997-1998 when the needs of families started to change due to
Head Start expansion and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act of 1996, which instituted TANF and increased work requirements for benefit recipients.
Using lessons learned from the pilot, state administrators implemented the program statewide
in 2003, with the goal of supporting quality collaboration among early care and education
providers and minimizing transitions for children in full-day care.
APPROACH USED TO BUILD ON EHS
9 Extend the day or year of existing EHS services.
PROGRAM
Child and Family Eligibility
• Family Income: Children must be from families earning less than 50 percent of the
State Median Income ($2,533 per month for a family of three). Income eligibility is
the same as the Illinois child care subsidy program.
Building on the Promise: State Initiatives to Expand Access to Early Head Start for Young Children and their Families
ILLINOIS – Child Care Collaboration Program
• Pare