Summary
Total cases receiving Public Assistance in Illinois climbed 186,798 cases (246,821 persons) in May 2020 from May 2019. Aided cases numbered 1,906,818 (3,064,272 persons) in May 2020, up 10.86% from year-earlier totals.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Total TANF Benefits: There were 24,192 TANF cases (63,810 persons) in May 2020, up 1,611 cases and 4,708 persons from April 2020. The caseload was 18.68% percent higher than the May 2019 total.
- TANF-Basic: In May 2020, TANF-Basic (primarily single-parent) families increased, from April 2020, by 1,401 cases (3,833 persons) for a total of 23,036 cases (58,506 persons).
- Two-Parent Cases: Two-parent cases increased in May 2020 by 210 (875 persons) from April 2020 for a total of 1156 cases (5304 persons).
- Approvals: There were 2,015 assistance approvals this month, including 704 new grants (up 271 since April 2020) and 127 reinstatements (down 56 since April 2020). A reinstatement is defined as approval of any case that was active within the previous 24 months.
- TANF Cancelled due to earnings: In May 2020 there were 90 cases cancelled due to earnings from new employer or increased earnings from an existing employer.
- Total Grant amount: $10,244,856 was the total in May 2020. This is $1,077,698 more than the total in April 2020. May 2020 shows a 26.23% increase from May 2019.
Assistance to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD)
The total number of May 2020 AABD Cash cases was up 460 cases or 2.42% from the number of cases a year earlier.
- AABD Case Details: AABD cash cases increased by 241 cases in May 2020 from April 2020 for a total of 19,477 cases. This total includes 9,435 persons who qualified for Old Age Assistance; 121 persons who qualified for Blind Assistance; and 9,921 persons who qualified for Disability Assistance. The total grant amount shows a 2.72% increase from April 2020 ($2,168,368) to May 2020 ($2,227,453).
Medical Assistance - No Grant (MANG)
May 2020 had a program total of 1,750,895 cases (2,825,133 persons). Of the total MANG cases, there were 67,055 cases (117,398 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 May 2020 show a 6.54% increase (104,575 cases) since May 2019.
- MANG: MANG recipients represent 91.82% of total cases and 92.20% of total persons in May 2020. In May 2019, MANG recipients represented 92.96% of total cases.
- Family Health Plans: Families increased in May 2020 by 11,370 to 703,424 cases from totals in April 2020. Persons also increased in May by 30,461 to 1,745,962.
- ACA Adult: ACA Adult saw an increase of 27,563 cases from April 2020 for a total of 670,872 cases in May. Persons increased by 28,917 for a May 2020 total of 694,378.
- AABD Clients: AABD customers who were categorically qualified for Medical Only increased 0.27% in May 2020 from April 2020 to 334,114 cases.
- Foster Care: Foster Care Assistance aided 42,485 in May of 2020. This is a decrease of 85 persons since April 2020.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- SNAP Assistance was given to 1,042,271 Illinois households (1,981,104 persons) in May 2020. This is an increase of 156,901 households (200,326 persons) from May 2019 levels.
- A total of 112,254 households (155,852 persons) received SNAP with no other assistance in May 2020. This is an increase of 30,497 households from May 2019 levels.
- The total SNAP assistance amount for May of 2020 was $431,351,848*. This is an increase of $208,762,895 from May of 2019.
FISCAL YEAR 2020 SUMMARY OF CASES AND PERSONS AS OF MAY 2020
| Program |
Cases |
Persons |
| TANF |
24,192 |
63,810 |
| AABD Cash |
19,477 |
19,477 |
| Family Health Plan |
703,424 |
1,745,962 |
| AABD MANG |
334,114 |
334,114 |
| ACA |
670,872 |
694,378 |
| SNAP with no other assistance |
112,254 |
155,852 |
| Foster Care |
42,485 |
42,485 |
| Refugee Cash and Medical |
92 |
92 |
| Total |
1,906,910 |
3,056,170 |
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 April 2020, an estimated 116,627 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 April 2020, an estimated 5,103 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 April 2020, the centers were closed.
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 2,429 households in shelters during January through March 2020. Of those, 687 were households with children.
- The Emergency Food Program served 422,350 households (duplicative) from January through March 2020.
- The Homeless Prevention Program helps families in existing homes and helps others secure affordable housing. During January-March 2020, 1,441 households were served. Of those, 785 were families (Households with children under age 18).
- The Supportive Housing Program funds governments and agencies which serve families and transitional facility residents. In January-March 2020, 831,652 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 873 clients in May of 2020
- Of the refugees served, 379 received employment services, and 65% of the clients entering employment were still employed 90 days later during the 3rd Quarter of FY20.
- The Outreach and Interpretation project assures access to IDHS benefits. This program has been reinstated and has served 2,954 in May of 2020.
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 240 customers during the January- March 2020 quarter.
- The Estimated Donated Funds Initiative aided 5,697 customers with 53,840 rides provided for Senior's during the January-March 2020 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 |
April 2020 |
SFY 2019 Average |
SFY 2018 Average |
| Referrals |
1,130 |
3,333 |
3,091 |
| Active IFSP's |
21,104 |
22,812 |
21,981 |
| 0-3 Participation Rate |
14.59% |
4.88% |
4.71% |
| Under 1 Participation Rate |
1.18% |
1.38% |
1.42% |
| % With Medicaid |
51.30% |
52.0% |
54.9% |
| % With Insurance |
38.60% |
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 April 2020 |
| Pregnant Women |
12,444 |
| Breastfeeding Women |
13,358 |
| Postpartum Women |
11,399 |
| Infants |
46,833 |
| Children |
75,250 |
| Total |
159,284 |
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 began March 16, 2020 in DHS Region 4. We are currently set to go live in the last DHS Region to be converted, Region 1 - Cook County on Tuesday, September 8.
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 April 2020
| Location |
Medicaid |
Non-Medicaid |
Total |
| Cook County |
9,728 |
3,273 |
13,001 |
| Downstate |
17,422 |
4,141 |
21,563 |
| Statewide |
27,150 |
7,414 |
34,564 |
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
