Summary
Total cases receiving Public Assistance in Illinois climbed 157,969 cases (240,116 persons) in December 2021 from December 2020. Aided cases numbered 2,171,463 (3,500,030 persons) in December 2021, up 7.85% from year-earlier totals.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Total TANF Benefits: There were 27,705 TANF cases (75,649 persons) in December 2021, down 45 cases and up 169 persons from November 2021. The caseload was 3.37% lower than the December 2020 total.
- TANF-Basic: In December 2021, TANF-Basic (primarily single-parent) families decreased, from November 2021, by 70 cases (14 persons) for a total of 26,162 cases (68,661 persons).
- Two-Parent Cases: Two-parent cases increase in December 2021 by 25 cases (183 persons) from November 2021 for a total of 1,543 cases (6,988 persons).
- Approvals: There were 1,580 assistance approvals this month, including 920 new grants (down 158 since November 2021) and 252 reinstatements (up 44 since November 2021). A reinstatement is defined as approval of any case that was active within the previous 24 months.
- TANF Cancelled due to earnings: In December 2021 there were 203 cases cancelled due to earnings from new employer or increased earnings from an existing employer.
- Total Grant amount: $12,670,658 was the total in December 2021. This is $654,210 more than the total in November 2021. December 2021 shows a 2.33% decrease from December 2020.
Assistance to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD)
The total number of December 2021 AABD Cash cases was down 745 cases or -3.88% from the number of cases a year earlier.
- AABD Case Details: AABD Cash cases increased by 56 cases in December 2021 from November 2021 for a total of 18,473 cases. This total includes 8,898 persons who qualified for Old Age Assistance; 125 persons who qualified for Blind Assistance; and 9,450 persons who qualified for Disability Assistance. The total grant amount shows a 1.96% increase from November 2021 ($2,317,396) to December 2021 ($2,362,809).
Medical Assistance - No Grant (MANG)
December 2021 had a program total of 2,025,802 cases (3,270,602 persons). Of the total MANG cases, there were 76,750 cases (128,999 MANG persons) in All Kids, Disabled Workers, Breast and Cervical Cancer, Veteran Care, Medically Fragile Technology Dependent, and Department of Corrections programs. Overall, MANG cases in December 2021 show a 9.67% increase (178,575 cases) since December 2020.
- MANG: MANG recipients represent 93.26% of total cases and 93.42% of total persons in December 2021. In December 2020, MANG recipients represented 91.74% of total cases.
- Family Health Plans: Families increased in December 2021 by 3,933 to 807,073 cases from totals in November 2021. Persons also increased 8,269 in December 2021 to 2,011,089 persons.
- ACA Adult: ACA Adult saw an increase of 6,819 cases from November 2021 for a total of 848,468 cases in December 2021. Persons increased by 7,067 for a December 2021 total of 876,897 persons.
- AABD Clients: AABD customers who were categorically qualified for Medical Only, increased .59% in December 2021 from November 2021 to 370,261 cases.
- Foster Care: Foster Care Assistance totals were not available at the time of this report.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- SNAP Assistance was given to 1,057,147 Illinois households (1,954,222 persons) in December 2021. This is a decrease of 36,721 households from December 2020 levels.
- A total of 99,483 households (135,306 persons) received SNAP with no other assistance in December 2021. This is a decrease of 18,896 households from December 2020 levels.
- The total SNAP assistance amount for December 2021 was $501,428,942. This is an increase of $121,853,168* from December 2020.
FISCAL YEAR 2022 SUMMARY OF CASES AND PERSONS AS OF December 2021
| PROGRAM |
CASES |
PERSONS |
| TANF |
27,705 |
75,649 |
| AABD Cash |
18,473 |
18,473 |
| Family Health Plans |
807,073 |
2,011,089 |
| AABD MANG |
370,261 |
382,616 |
| ACA |
848,468 |
876,897 |
| SNAP with no other assistance |
99,483 |
135,306 |
| Foster Care |
N/A |
N/A |
| Refugees Cash & Medical |
345 |
345 |
| TOTAL |
2,171,808 |
3,500,375 |
Child Care1
Child Care Services are available to families with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Families must be working or enrolled in approved education or training activities. Families cost-share with co-payments based on income and family size. Services are delivered through a certificate program and a site-administered contract system.
- The Certificate Program eligibility is determined by resource and referral agencies. Parents choose subsidized full or part-time care from any legal care provider that meets their needs. Providers include child-care centers, family homes, group child-care home and in-home and relative care. In November 2021, an estimated 93,526 children were served by certificate.
- The Site-Administered Contract Program serves families through a statewide network of contracted licensed centers and family homes. Families apply for care directly with the contracted providers and eligibility is determined on-site by the provider. In November 2021, an estimated 3,809 children were served by contract.
- The Migrant Head Start Program provides childcare and health and social services for preschool children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. Services are provided by local community-based agencies. In November 2021, there were 179 children enrolled in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start.
Emergency Food, Shelter and Support
Homeless families and individuals receive food, shelter, and support services through local not-for-profit organizations. A "continuum of care" includes emergency and transitional housing and assistance in gaining self-sufficiency and permanent housing.
- The Emergency and Transitional Housing Program served 4,944 households in shelters during the July through September 2021 Quarter. Of those, 996 were households with children.
- The Emergency Food Program served 175,489 households (duplicative) in December 2021.
- The Homeless Prevention Program helps families in existing homes and helps others secure affordable housing. During the July - September 2021 quarter, 848 households were served. Of those, 383 were families (Households with children under age 18).
- The Supportive Housing Program funds governments and agencies which serve families and transitional facility residents. In the July - September 2021 quarter, 785,016 nights of Supportive Housing were provided.
- The Refugee and Immigrant Citizenship Initiative funds the provision of English language, civics and U.S. history instruction as well as application services. This program has served 2,618 clients in December 2021.
- Of the refugees served, 399 received employment services, and 71% of the clients entering employment were still employed 90 days later from April - June 2021. No updated statistics were available at the time of report.
- The Outreach and Interpretation project assures access to IDHS benefits. This program has served 3,183 in December 2021.
Social Service Block Grants
Service funding is provided through the Federal Title XX Social Services Block Grant to manage and monitor contracts which help customers achieve economic self-support and prevent or remedy abuse and neglect.
- Crisis Nurseries served 1,379 families/customers during the July - September 2021 quarter.
- The Estimated Donated Funds Initiative aided 2,212 customers with 41,335 rides provided for Senior's during the July - September 2021 quarter.
Early Intervention (EI)1
The Illinois Early Intervention (EI) program serves infants and toddlers ages birth to 3 years old with developmental delays or disabilities and their family in one or more of the following areas of development: adaptive, cognitive, communication/speech, physical and social emotional. EI is part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities. Annually, the EI program serves approximately 23,000 children throughout the state and maintains 25 regional intake entities called Child and Family Connections (CFC) offices. CFCs handle referrals, intake and service coordination for infants and toddlers referred to EI and coordinates the eligibility determination process and manages eligible infants and toddlers with Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs)through transition.
Early Intervention services include, but are not limited to developmental evaluations and assessments, communication/speech therapy, developmental therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, service coordination, psychological, and other counseling services, and assistive technology. Evaluations, assessments, service plan development and service coordination are provided to families at no cost. Ongoing EI services are paid for by public insurance (i.e., Medicaid/All Kids), a family's private health insurance, when appropriate, state general revenue and other program funds. Families are assessed a family participation fee based on a sliding scale which considers their ability to pay.
Program Statistics - Early Intervention
| Indicator |
NOVEMBER 2021 |
SFY 2021 Average |
SFY 2020 Average |
| Referrals |
3,147 |
2,747 |
2,813 |
| Active IFSP's |
20,619 |
17,814 |
22,474 |
| 0-3 Participation Rate |
7.03% |
6.25% |
10.41% |
| Under 1 Participation Rate |
1.05% |
0.93% |
1.30% |
| % With Medicaid |
51.30% |
50.48% |
51.2% |
| % With Insurance |
40.00% |
39.78% |
38.8% |
| % With Fees |
30.70% |
28.96% |
28.8% |
What's New in EI
The Bureau is ramping up our State Systemic Improvement Plan to improve child outcomes through two coherent improvement strategies of implementing the Child Outcomes Survey practice with fidelity and to have Family Engagement processes developed, measured, and put into practice. This work aligns with evidence-based services utilizing the Division of Early Childhood's Recommended Practices.
Early Intervention will begin to provide services to children after they turn three years old if they are eligible for the Early Intervention/Extended Services Program (EI/ES). This option for extended services through Part C to children over age three applies only if the child:
a) Has been determined eligible for early intervention, and
b) has their third birthday between May 1 and August 31 and
c) has been found eligible for early childhood special education services under IDEA and Section 14-8.02 of Public Act 102-0209 (Section 11h) and created an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)1
The purpose of WIC is to provide nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, nutritious supplemental foods, and referrals to services for eligible pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children to age five. The program has been housed under the Department of Human Services since 1997. To be eligible, participants must be at 185% of the federal poverty level, be a resident of the State of Illinois, and have a nutrition risk.
Program Statistics - WIC
| Eligibility Category |
Clients in November 2021 |
| Pregnant Women |
12,782 |
| Breastfeeding Women |
11,133 |
| Postpartum Women |
10,513 |
| Infants |
41,961 |
| Children |
73,873 |
| Total |
150,262 |
What's New in WIC
The WIC Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) implementation was completed on September 28, 2020. This included the creation of a new management information system called I-WIC that replaced the old Cornerstone system. Since then WIC staff have been working with local WIC agencies to address training and system issues in the Clinic modules in I-WIC that have arisen to ensure a quality customer experience. Central office staff have also been reviewing and resolving I-WIC system training, documentation and related issues with the Vendor, Administration, and Nutrition modules. USDA was very pleased that the Illinois WIC Program was still able to implement WIC EBT during the Covid-19 pandemic meeting the federal mandate.
Family Case Management1
The program target population is low-income families (below 200% of the federal poverty level) with a pregnant woman, an infant. The goals of the program are to help women have healthy babies and to reduce the rates of infant mortality and very low birth weight. To achieve these goals the program conducts outreach activities to inform expectant women and new mothers of available services and then assists them with obtaining prenatal and well-childcare. The program works with community agencies to address barriers to accessing medical services, such as childcare, transportation, housing, food, mental health needs and substance abuse services. Services are provided statewide through local Health Departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and community-based organizations. Home visits by program staff are provided in the first year of life.
Program Statistics - Family Case Management
Active Participant Counts for November 2021 were not available at the time of this report.
|
Total |
| Cook County |
N/A |
| Downstate |
N/A |
| Statewide |
N/A |
Bureau of Program & Performance Management
1 Current month's Child Care, Early Intervention, Women, Infants, and Children, and Family Case Management data is not released until the end of the following month resulting in a one-month lag for this report.
* Increase due to COVID19 - see Policy Memo - http://intranet.dhs.illinois.gov/oneweb/page.aspx?item=123562
