The Chief Homelessness Officer (Chief), Illinois Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH), Interagency Task Force on Homelessness (Task Force) and the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness (Advisory Council) were established via Executive Order 2021-21 signed by Governor JB Pritzker on September 3rd, 2021. On July 26, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed HB2831, codified as Public Act 103-0269, which codified these entities into State law. The law requires annual progress reports on the implementation of Home Illinois, the interagency plan to prevent and end homelessness, developed by the Task Force and OPEH.
OPEH provides staffing support to the Chief, Task Force, Advisory Council and Youth Homelessness Prevention Subcommittee. OPEH is a statewide office administratively housed within the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Home Illinois is the name of State plan to prevent and and homelessness. The plan has over 125 commitments across 16 state agencies and OPEH to address homelessness over two state fiscal years.
View Home Illinois Plan
Mission
Coordinating State of Illinois agency strategies and investments and partnering with the community to build a strong safety net and permanent housing for Illinoisans facing homelessness and housing insecurity.
Vision
No resident in the State of Illinois lives on the street, in a shelter or in overcrowded housing. Illinoisans earn a living wage that allows them to afford housing in their community, without fear of eviction. When a housing crisis occurs, safety nets supports allow quick resolution to stabilize housing.
About Illinois' Chief Homelessness Officer
The Chief provides executive leadership to the State's work to prevent and end homelessness and serves as the chair of the Task Force and co-chair of the Advisory Council. The Chief serves as a policymaker and spokesperson on homelessness prevention, including leading the multiagency Home Illinois effort through programmatic, policy, and legislative and budgetary efforts and communicating with the Illinois General Assembly, federal, and local leaders on these critical issues. The Chief is the State of Illinois' lead policymaking official working to prevent and end homelessness.
Christine Haley was appointed Illinois' first Chief Homeless Officer on November 03, 2021. Before joining the state, Christine was the Director of Housing for Cook County Health (CCH), one of the nation's largest public safety-net health systems. Together with Housing Forward, she was the clinical administrator of a 19-bed medical respite center in Oak Park.
Before joining CCH, Christine worked as an administrator in the housing sector with the CSH, Housing Opportunities for Women and Heartland Alliance. She previously served in health equity positions within the Massachusetts and Cleveland Departments of Public Health. She was the founding Executive Director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center. Christine holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University. Christine lives in Chicago with her husband Peter and three children.
Home Illinois Interagency Leadership Team
- Christine Haley, Chief Homelessness Officer
- Colleen Mahoney, Assistant Director, IDHS
- Michael Mallory, HFS, Senior Policy Advisor
- Brenda O'Connell, IHDA, Senior Policy Advisor
- Richard Rowe, IDOC, Senior Policy Advisor
- Vacant, IDPH, Senior Policy Advisor
OPEH IDHS Staff
- Jeri Bond, Statewide Referral Network Housing Waiting List Manager
- LaTonya Butts, Communications Specialist
- Wang (Billy) Lau, Technical Assistant
- Nikita Robinson, Administrative Assistant
- Kevin Roth, Data Analyst
- Anna Spreitzer, Special Projects Coordinator
