Summary
Total cases receiving Public Assistance in Illinois climbed 176,984 cases (284,933 persons) in September 2020 from September 2019. Aided cases numbered 1,952,297 (3,165,969 persons) in September 2020, up 9.97% from year-earlier totals.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Total TANF Benefits: There were 27,590 TANF cases (73,945 persons) in September 2020, up 1,100 cases and 3,240 persons from August 2020. The caseload was 27.95% higher than the September 2019 total.
- TANF-Basic: In September 2020, TANF-Basic (primarily single-parent) families increased, from August 2020, by 1,032 cases (2,955 persons) for a total of 26,200 cases (67,646 persons).
- Two-Parent Cases: Two-parent cases increased in September 2020 by 68 (285 persons) from August 2020 for a total of 1,390 cases (6,299 persons).
- Approvals: There were 1,901 assistance approvals this month, including 759 new grants (up 209 since August 2020) and 267 reinstatements (up 53 since August 2020). A reinstatement is defined as approval of any case that was active within the previous 24 months.
- TANF Cancelled due to earnings: In September 2020 there were 157 cases cancelled due to earnings from new employer or increased earnings from an existing employer.
- Total Grant amount: $12,207,038 was the total in September 2020. This is $797,461 more than the total in August 2020. September 2020 shows a 42.79% increase from September 2019.
Assistance to the Aged, Blind or Disabled (AABD)
The total number of September 2020 AABD Cash cases was up 499 cases or 2.62% from a year earlier.
- AABD Case Details: AABD cash cases decreased by 156 cases in September 2020 from August 2020 for a total of 19,675 cases. This total includes 9,543 persons who qualified for Old Age Assistance; 128 persons who qualified for Blind Assistance; and 10,004 persons who qualified for Disability Assistance. The total grant amount shows a 6.416% increase from August 2020 ($2,264,204) to September 2020 ($2,409,360).
Medical Assistance - No Grant (MANG)
September 2020 had a program total of 1,788,746 cases (2,913,303 persons). Of the total MANG cases, there were 68,912 cases (119,878 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 September 2020 show an 8.12% increase (134,361 cases) since September 2019.
- MANG: MANG recipients represent 91.62% of total cases and 92.02% of total persons in September 2020. In September 2019, MANG recipients represented 93.19% of total cases.
- Family Health Plans: Families increased in September 2020 by 6,333 to 731,956 cases from totals in August 2020. Persons also increased in September by 17,243 to 1,822,788 persons.
- ACA Adult: ACA Adult saw an increase of 11,285 cases from August 2020 for a total of 718,767 cases in September. Persons increased by 11,548 for a September 2020 total of 743,748.
- AABD Clients: AABD customers who were categorically qualified for Medical Only increased .57% in September 2020 from August 2020 to 338,023 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 1,101,816 Illinois households (2,018,867 persons) in September 2020. This is an increase of 214,892 households from September 2019 levels.
- A total of 116,286 households (159,046 persons) received SNAP with no other assistance in September 2020. This is an increase of 36,109 households from September 2019 levels.
- The total SNAP assistance amount for September of 2020 was $432,589,388*. This is an increase of $211,641,116 from September of 2019.
FISCAL YEAR 2020 SUMMARY OF CASES AND PERSONS AS OF SEPTEMBER 2020
| Program |
Cases |
Persons |
| TANF |
27,590 |
73,945 |
| AABD Cash |
19,675 |
19,675 |
| Family Health Plan |
731,956 |
1,822,788 |
| AABD MANG |
338,023 |
346,767 |
| ACA |
718,767 |
743,748 |
| SNAP with no other assistance |
116,286 |
159,046 |
| Foster Care |
N/A |
N/A |
| Refugees Cash and Medical |
100 |
100 |
| Total |
1,952,397 |
3,166,069 |
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 August 2020, an estimated 104,205 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 August 2020, an estimated 3,589 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 August 2020, there were 149 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 4,794 households in shelters during July through September 2020. Of those, 1,020 were households with children.
- The Emergency Food Program served 231,918 households (duplicative) in September 2020.
- The Homeless Prevention Program helps families in existing homes and helps others secure affordable housing. During July - September 2020, 1,082 households were served. Of those, 526 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 2020 quarter, 833,348 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 3,805 clients in the 1st Quarter of SFY2021
- Of the refugees served, 425 received employment services, and 94% of the clients entering employment were still employed 90 days later from July 2020 - September 2020.
- The Outreach and Interpretation project assures access to IDHS benefits. This program has served 5,206 in the 1st Quarter of SFY2021.
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 201 customers during the July - September 2020 quarter.
- The Estimated Donated Funds Initiative aided 1,767 customers with 21,795 rides provided for Senior's during the July - September 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 |
August 2020 |
SFY 2020 Average |
SFY 2019 Average |
| Referrals |
2,432 |
2,813 |
3,333 |
| Active IFSP's |
18,082 |
22,474 |
22,812 |
| 0-3 Participation Rate |
12.50% |
10.41% |
4.88% |
| Under 1 Participation Rate |
0.87% |
1.30% |
1.38% |
| % With Medicaid |
50.9% |
51.2% |
52.0% |
| % With Insurance |
39.0% |
38.8% |
39.1% |
| % With Fees |
27.2% |
28.8% |
28.5% |
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 August 2020 |
| Pregnant Women |
12,399 |
| Breastfeeding Women |
12,364 |
| Postpartum Women |
10,512 |
| Infants |
44,793 |
| Children |
71,782 |
| Total |
151,853 |
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 August 2020
| Location |
Total |
| Cook County |
13,078 |
| Downstate |
18,439 |
| Statewide |
31,157 |
Of the 31,157 Statewide participants, 24,681 were Medicaid participants and 6,836 were Non-Medicaid.
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
