The Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) officially begins operations as Illinois’ first agency focused entirely on early childhood programs and services.
IDEC begins operations with 385 employees, and assumes the responsibility for administering over $4.3 billion in grants and direct services dedicated to supporting children and families across the state. IDEC awarded a record-breaking funding to 4,000 Smart Start Workforce Grant recipients and increases rates for some Early Intervention providers
The transition is intentionally designed so there are no abrupt changes for parents and how they currently access services will remain the same. Programs now under IDEC’S jurisdiction include: child care (CCAP), head start state collaboration office, migrant seasonal head start, early intervention, maternal, infant, early childhood home visiting (MIECHV), maternal child home visiting early childhood block grant (Preschool for All (PFA), preschool for all expansion (PFA-E), prevention initiative (PI), child care licensing, and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH).
Key priorities for the department include improving access to early childhood programs, reducing administrative complexity and burden, advancing equity, and strengthening partnerships with providers and communities.
For more information about IDEC programs and grant requirements, visit idec.illinois.gov.
