Summary
Total cases receiving Public Assistance in Illinois climbed 90,469 cases (137,820 persons) in February 2020 from February 2019. Aided cases numbered 1,769,921 (2,876,185 persons) in February 2020, up 5.39% from year-earlier totals.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Total TANF Benefits: There were 22,486 TANF cases (58,743 persons) in February 2020, up 404 cases and 1,298 persons from January 2020. The caseload was 7.5 percent higher than the February 2019 total.
- TANF-Basic: In February 2020, TANF-Basic (primarily single-parent) families increased, from January 2020, by 369 cases (1,145 persons) for a total of 21,627 cases (54,654 persons).
- Two-Parent Cases: Two-parent cases increased in February 2020 by 35 (153 persons) from January 2020 for a total of 859 cases (4,089 persons).
- Approvals: There were 1,225 assistance approvals this month, including 471 new grants (up 26 since January 2020) and 248 reinstatements (down 89 since January 2020). A reinstatement is defined as approval of any case that was active within the previous 24 months.
- TANF Cancelled due to earnings: In February 2020 there were 116 cases cancelled due to earnings from new employer or increased earnings from an existing employer.
- Total Grant amount: $9,226,500 was the total in February 2020. This is an increase of $143,001 from January 2020. February 2020 is up 14.78% from February 2019
Assistance to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD)
The total number of February 2020 AABD Cash cases was up 18 cases or .09% from the number of cases a year earlier.
- AABD Case Details: AABD cash cases increased by 42 in February 2020 from January 2020 for a total of 19,142 cases. This total includes 9,274 persons who qualified for Old Age Assistance; 116 persons who qualified for Blind Assistance; and 9,752 persons who qualified for Disability Assistance. The total grant amount shows a 1.39% decrease from January 2020 ($2,161,077) to February 2020 ($2,131,044).
Medical Assistance - No Grant (MANG)
February 2020 had a program total of 1,602,310 cases (2,625,199 persons). Of the total MANG cases, there were 68,890 cases (120,655 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 February 2020 show a .61% increase (9,740 cases) since February 2019.
- MANG: MANG recipients represent 90.53% of total cases and 91.27% of total persons in February 2020. MANG cases increased 0.61 % (9,740 cases) from their February 2019 levels, when they represented 97.14% of all cases.
- Family Health Plans: Families decreased by 248 to 678,812 cases in February 2020 since January 2020. Persons decreased in February by 304 to 1,680,812.
- ACA Adult: ACA Adult saw a decrease of 33 cases from January 2020 for a total of 607,076 cases in February. Persons increased by 158 for a February 2020 total of 627,432.
- AABD Clients: AABD customers who were categorically qualified for Medical Only decreased .05% in February 2020 from January 2020 to 316,422 cases.
- Foster Care: Foster Care Assistance aided 46,577 in February of 2020. This is an increase of 4,907 persons since January 2020.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
*Due to the temporary federal government shutdown, the Feb 2019 numbers only represent partial month benefits for newly approved cases. All ongoing regular roll benefits for Feb 2019 were paid in January 2019
- SNAP Assistance was given to 887,753 Illinois households (1,755,937 persons) in February 2020. This is an increase of 823,558 households from February 2019 levels*.
- A total of 79,406 households (119,717 persons) received SNAP with no other assistance in February 2020. This is an increase of 72,599 households from February 2019 levels*.
- The total SNAP assistance amount for February of 2020 was $219,288,512. This is an increase of $199,168,301 from February of 2019*.
FISCAL YEAR 2020 SUMMARY OF CASES AND PERSONS AS OF FEBRUARY 2020
| Program |
Cases |
Persons |
| TANF |
22,486 |
58,743 |
| AABD Cash |
19,142 |
19,142 |
| Family Health Plans |
678,812 |
1,680,812 |
| AABD MANG |
316,422 |
316,422 |
| ACA |
607,076 |
627,432 |
| SNAP with no other assistance |
79,406 |
119,717 |
| Foster Care |
46,577 |
46,577 |
| Refugee Cash and Medical |
120 |
120 |
| TOTAL |
1,770,041 |
2,868,965 |
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 January 2020, an estimated 127,637 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 January 2020, an estimated 5,795 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 January 2020, the centers were closed for the winter season.
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 2,757 households in shelters during October- December 2019. Of those, 345 were households with children.
- The Emergency Food Program served 176,637 households (duplicative) from October-December 2019.
- The Homeless Prevention Program helps families in existing homes and helps others secure affordable housing. During October-December 2019, 1,803 households were served. Of those, 1,093 were families (Households with children under age 18).
- The Supportive Housing Program funds governments and agencies which serve families and transitional facility residents. In October-December 2019, 703,059 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 been reinstated and has served 2,359 clients in the 2nd Quarter of SFY2020
- Of the refugees served, 449 received employment services, and 81% of the clients entering employment were still employed 90 days later from July 1, 2019-December 31, 2019.
- The Outreach and Interpretation project assures access to IDHS benefits. This program has been reinstated and has served 2,773 in the 2nd Quarter of SFY2020.
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 485 customers during the October-December 2019 quarter.
- The Estimated Donated Funds Initiative aided 5,260 customers with 70,226 rides provided for Senior's during the October-December 2019 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 |
January 2020 |
SFY 2019 Average |
SFY 2018 Average |
| Referrals |
4,102 |
3,333 |
3,091 |
| Active IFSP's |
23,136 |
22,812 |
21,981 |
| 0-3 Participation Rate |
7.67% |
4.88% |
4.71% |
| Under 1 Participation Rate |
1.36% |
1.38% |
1.42% |
| % With Medicaid |
50.80% |
52.0% |
54.9% |
| % With Insurance |
38.90% |
39.1% |
38.7% |
| % With Fees |
29.00% |
28.5% |
28.4% |
What's New in EI
The Bureau is finalizing 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.
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. In order 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 January 2020 |
| Pregnant Women |
14,007 |
| Breastfeeding Women |
14,408 |
| Postpartum Women |
13,446 |
| Infants |
50,250 |
| Children |
82,411 |
| Total |
174,522 |
What's New in WIC
WIC Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) implementation activities are underway and include the creation of a new management information system (MIS) to replace the existing Cornerstone system. USDA has mandated full implementation of EBT by October 1, 2020. The Pilot roll-out of both the EBT and MIS is scheduled for March 16, 2020 in DHS Region 4.
Family Case Management
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 February 2020
| Location |
Medicaid |
Non-Medicaid |
Total |
| Cook County |
9,489 |
3,240 |
12,729 |
| Downstate |
21,485 |
5,545 |
27,030 |
| Statewide |
30,974 |
8,785 |
39,759 |
Bureau of Program & Performance Management
1 Current month's Child Care, Early Intervention, and Women, Infants, and Children data is not released until the end of the following month resulting in a one-month lag for this report.
