Advocacy in the Time of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a life-altering impact on daily routines throughout the world. While we navigate the personal and professional challenges this crisis brings, the work of advocating for children and their families never stops. Here’s just some of the things the Ahlquist Center has been advocating for in response to COVID-19: Relief for […]
Governor Rauner Signs Bill to Create Youth Budget Commission
This year, the Start to Finish Coalition developed and championed HB5202, which passed unanimously out of the Illinois General Assembly and was signed into law August 11 on Kids Day at the Illinois State Fair. The new legislation establishes the Youth Budget Commission, to be comprised of a diverse group of experts in the needs of youth and […]
Bill to Provide Child Care to Children Who Experienced Abuse or Neglect Awaits Governor’s Signature
In May, the Illinois General Assembly passed HB4885 which provides families with children ages 0 to 5 with an indicated case of abuse and neglect access to free- or low-cost child care through the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. Research shows that early exposure to child abuse and neglect can affect the structure of the […]
Children’s Home & Aid Part of Innovative Pilot to Help Families Recover from Substance Abuse
Nationally the opioid crisis is having a major impact on child welfare. In an April 2018 study, Stopping the Opioid Crisis Begins at Home, by the Council for a Strong America, researchers found that there is a connection between opioid use and child abuse and neglect. In 2016, for 34 percent of children involved in […]
Foster Parent Mentoring program provides added support to new foster parents
In June 2017, Children’s Home & Aid began the Foster Parent Mentoring program to increase the support available to foster parents with a goal of improving the quality of foster parenting. Each year, Children’s Home & Aid provides foster care services to more than 1,100 children in Illinois. Foster Parent Mentoring is a unique program […]
Supporting the Community Schools Model
A major focus of the Ahlquist Center for Policy, Practice and Innovation is to ensure adequate, sustained funding for community school programs—a proven model that improves learning outcomes for students in under-resourced school districts. The community schools approach brings together public schools, non-profit organizations and local businesses, community schools to provide a broad range of programs […]
Investing to Improve the Well-Being of Youth in Illinois
As part of the Start to Finish Coalition’s effort to create a policy, funding and research agenda that supports young people to be stable, safe, healthy, educated, employable and connected, the Ahlquist Center joined Forefront to engage funders in a presentation and panel discussion titled, “Start to Finish: Investing to Improve the Well-Being of Youth […]
Improving Child Welfare in Illinois
Today Children’s Home & Aid staff, including Melissa Ludington, Vice President of Child Welfare Services, and Amber Hoeft, Foster Care Case Manager, joined Andrea Durbin, CEO of Illinois Collaboration on Youth to testify before the Illinois House Appropriation Human Services Committee. At the hearing, the group testified about shortcomings in the child welfare system in Illinois and […]
How the State can Support School/Community Partnerships
On Friday, November 17, a panel of speakers testified at the Illinois State Board of Education Budget (ISBE) Hearing in Chicago on behalf of the Federation of Community Schools to ask that ISBE include a $15 million Community School program line in its FY19 budget. The panel included Patrick Brosnan from the Brighton Park Neighborhood […]
Ensuring Youth in Illinois Live Exceptional Lives
The Ahlquist Center On September 20, the Ahlquist Center for Policy, Practice & Innovation at Children’s Home & Aid convened a group of 30 policy practitioners to introduce the framework for Start to Finish: Completing Our Commitment to Youth, an initiative focused on youth ages 8-25. The goal of the initiative is to begin to […]
Home Visiting Pilot Program Presents at National Conference
In September, Jaime Russell, Children’s Home & Aid Project Manager of Home Visiting Child Welfare Partnership, and Lesley Schwartz, Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development Manager of Program Evaluation (MIECHVP) presented at the MIECHV National Conference. Jaime and Lesley shared the initial findings of the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) pilot program. Supported […]
Completing Our Commitment to Youth
The Ahlquist Center for Policy, Practice and Innovation is pleased to present A Fiscal Scan of Illinois Public Investments in Children and Youth, Ages 8-25. Thanks to the generous support of The Chicago Community Trust, this scan takes a new approach to the state budget, organizing it by goals for youth rather than by individual […]
Action Alert: Urge Governor to Fully Restore CCAP
Today early childhood advocates across the state will call on Governor Rauner to fulfill his promise to restore access to affordable child care for thousands of working families. In November 2015, months after the Governor made dramatic and devastating changes to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), a compromise was reached to bring income eligibility […]
Thank You from Redeploy Illinois
Participants from Children’s Home + Aid’s Madison County Redeploy Illinois program and the 20th Judicial Circuit Redeploy Illinois program recently gathered together to express their gratitude to local legislators for their votes to end the Illinois budget crisis. Redeploy Illinois is a court mandated program that serves youth who are being considered for an evaluation or a […]
Take Action Tuesday, June 27 – Demand of State Legislators a Full Budget with New Revenue
Illinois is in its final days of the special session and fiscal year. The state is currently poised to enter our third year without a full budget, increasing the damage to our communities, schools, human service and healthcare sectors. Lawmakers are in a special session through June 30th. There is no guarantee that the Governor and […]
Children’s Mental Health: Championing a System of Care
Over 43,000 children in Winnebago County alone rely on medical assistance programs, including Medicaid[1], to provide for their physical and mental health needs. In addition, children in foster care receive Medicaid benefits regardless of the income of their families. With substantial cuts to Medicaid pending at the federal level, providers are concerned about the state’s […]
From Help to Hope
After emerging from a series of physically and emotionally abusive relationships, 37-year-old Stacey found her five children, ages 3 to 17, struggling to cope. Stacey’s two oldest children often fought with each other, sometimes violently, and both lacked motivation to work or do well in school. Stacey’s middle daughter faced anger issues and was quick […]
Employment Opportunities for At-risk Youth
When Louis Blake found himself homeless at age 15, he made his way to a shelter that works with homeless teens, which in turn referred him to Children’s Home + Aid. Louis was initially served by the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services (CCBYS) program, which provided support for teens who are homeless. Sadly, the program that […]
Funding for Healthy Families Illinois
Last week, Jaime Russell, Program Manager of Children’s Home + Aid’s Family Support Services in the Central Region, testified at a Senate Appropriations I Committee hearing. Jaime spoke in support of funding the Healthy Families Illinois and Parents Too Soon home visiting programs in the Illinois Department of Human Services’ budget at the $16.9 million level […]
Ready by 21 National Meeting
Children’s Home + Aid Policy Manager Stefanie Polacheck and The Federation for Community Schools Director Melissa Mitchell joined hundreds of youth advocates from around the country at the 6th Annual Ready by 21 National Meeting held in Austin last week. Each year, the Ready by 21 National Meeting brings together hundreds of leaders from around the country […]