Summary
Total cases receiving Public Assistance in Illinois climbed 28,334 cases (44,652 persons) in March 2020 from March 2019. Aided cases numbered 1,780,649 (2,889,137 persons) in March 2020, up 1.62% from year-earlier totals.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Total TANF Benefits: There were 20,386 TANF cases (58,479 persons) in March 2020, down 100 cases and 354 persons from February 2020. The caseload was 9.97% percent higher than the March 2019 total.
- TANF-Basic: In March 2020, TANF-Basic (primarily single-parent) families decreased, from February 2020, by 123 cases (354 persons) for a total of 21,504 cases (54,300 persons).
- Two-Parent Cases: Two-parent cases increased in March 2020 by 23 (90 persons) from February 2020 for a total of 882 cases (4,179 persons).
- Approvals: There were 1,025 assistance approvals this month, including 391 new grants (down 80 since February 2020) and 254 reinstatements (up 6 since February 2020). A reinstatement is defined as approval of any case that was active within the previous 24 months.
- TANF Cancelled due to earnings: In March 2020 there were 85 cases cancelled due to earnings from new employer or increased earnings from an existing employer.
- Total Grant amount: $9,070,207 was the total in March 2020. This is $156,293 less than the total in February 2020. However, March 2020 shows a 9.9% increase from March 2019.
Assistance to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD)
The total number of March 2020 AABD Cash cases was up 134 cases or .70% from the number of cases a year earlier.
- AABD Case Details: AABD cash cases increased by 48 cases in March 2020 from February 2020 for a total of 19,190 cases. This total includes 9,293 persons who qualified for Old Age Assistance; 116 persons who qualified for Blind Assistance; and 9,781 persons who qualified for Disability Assistance. The total grant amount shows a .67% increase from February 2020 ($2,131,044) to March 2020 ($2,145,390).
Medical Assistance - No Grant (MANG)
March 2020 had a program total of 1,609,852 cases (2,634,619 persons). Of the total MANG cases, there were 65,921 cases (116,540 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 March 2020 show a 1.27% increase (20,198 cases) since March 2019.
- MANG: MANG recipients represent 90.40% of total cases and 91.19% of total persons in March 2020. In March 2019, MANG recipients represented 92.85% of total cases.
- Family Health Plans: Families increased in March 2020 by 2,132 to 680,944 cases from totals in February 2020. Persons also increased in March by 3,702 to 1,684,514.
- ACA Adult: ACA Adult saw an increase of 3,570 cases from February 2020 for a total of 610,646 cases in March. Persons increased by 3,878 for a March 2020 total of 631,310.
- AABD Clients: AABD customers who were categorically qualified for Medical Only increased .75% in March 2020 from February 2020 to 318,795 cases.
- Foster Care: Foster Care Assistance aided 47,105 in March of 2020. This is an increase of 528 persons since February 2020.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- SNAP Assistance was given to 891,097 Illinois households (1,766,938 persons) in March 2020. This is an increase of 16,008 households from March 2019 levels.
- A total of 82,116 households (122,784 persons) received SNAP with no other assistance in March 2020. This is a decrease of 884 households from March 2019 levels.
- The total SNAP assistance amount for March of 2020 was $220,041,462. This is a decrease of $2,438,275 from March of 2019.
FISCAL YEAR 2020 SUMMARY OF CASES AND PERSONS AS OF MARCH 2020
| Program |
Cases |
Persons |
| TANF |
22,386 |
58,479 |
| AABD Cash |
19,190 |
19,190 |
| Family Health Plan |
680,944 |
1,684,514 |
| AABD MANG |
318,795 |
318,795 |
| ACA |
610,646 |
631,310 |
| SNAP with no other assistance |
82,116 |
122,784 |
| Foster Care |
47,105 |
47,105 |
| Refugee Cash and Medical |
111 |
111 |
| Total |
1,781,293 |
2,882,288 |
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 February 2020, an estimated 126,494 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 February 2020, an estimated 5,804 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 February 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 |
February 2020 |
SFY 2019 Average |
SFY 2018 Average |
| Referrals |
3,387 |
3,333 |
3,091 |
| Active IFSP's |
23,421 |
22,812 |
21,981 |
| 0-3 Participation Rate |
7.79% |
4.88% |
4.71% |
| Under 1 Participation Rate |
1.48% |
1.38% |
1.42% |
| % With Medicaid |
50.50% |
52.0% |
54.9% |
| % With Insurance |
39.00% |
39.1% |
38.7% |
| % With Fees |
29.10% |
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 February 2020 |
| Pregnant Women |
13,794 |
| Breastfeeding Women |
14,232 |
| Postpartum Women |
12,825 |
| Infants |
49,012 |
| Children |
81,213 |
| Total |
171,076 |
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 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 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, 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.
