Smart Start
In February 2023, Governor Pritzker announced his plans for Smart Start Illinois, a multi-year initiative aimed at providing every child with access to preschool, increasing funding for child care providers to improve quality and raise wages, and extending early support to more vulnerable families.
The State Fiscal Year 2024 (SFY24) Smart Start Illinois investments, supported through the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Early Childhood (IDHS-DEC), includes the following General Revenue Fund investments:
- $5 million to expand the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Home Visiting Program to allow more families who want it to receive early support.
- $100 million for Childcare Workforce Grants, which will stabilize providers and give child care workers a raise, making it one of the most impressive programs of its kind in the country.
- $40 million for Early Intervention programs to enhance services for families and give providers a raise.
Governor Pritzker’s proposal is committed to continued investments in Illinois’ Home Visiting, Child Care, and Early Intervention programs, allowing IDHS-DEC to use these funds towards long-term systems changes.
General Grant Information
What are Smart Start Child Care Workforce Grants, and how do they differ from the Child Care Assistance Program? Most child care programs cover the cost of care through private tuition, and if the enrolled families take part in the Child Care Assistance Program subsidy. However, families can only afford to pay so much in private tuition, and this amount does not cover competitive wages for staff. This makes it challenging for programs to provide competitive teacher compensation, improve class sizes and ratios, and invest in classroom equipment.
The split between CCAP and private tuition varies not only from provider to provider but also can vary within one provider’s revenues over time, as families move around. Some providers may only have one or two families subsidized by CCAP, while others might have an even mix, and others might be almost entirely CCAP funded. Therefore, changes to CCAP have a different effect on providers of different sizes, in different communities, and at different times.
Smart Start Child Care’s Workforce Grant program can provide child care programs with stable, ongoing funds they need to cover costs and invest in quality without burdening families by raising tuition or co-pays. These grants allow providers to cover higher staff wages through consistent base funding, offsetting the unpredictable nature and fluctuation of private pay tuition and CCAP subsidy payments. It also considers the true cost of services and pays in advance rather than in arrears.
Providers receiving Smart Start Child Care through IDHS will be required to meet a specific base wage level, helping them to attract more staff and meet parents’ need for child care at a rate they can afford.