Primary Budget Outcome
Protecting our children, veterans, poor, disabled, elderly and sick.
Meeting the Outcome
- Provide a safety net to meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable populations. Make food, shelter, support services and cash assistance available to Illinois residents with the greatest need. Ensure children and pregnant and lactating women receive proper nutrition by providing supplemental foods and by increasing the percent of women who breastfeed.
- Invest in prevention to enhance outcomes. Reducing infant mortality and low birth weight and ensure children eligible for Early Intervention (EI) services receive services by the age of one year. Support safe and healthy learning environments that prepare children for school. Support low-income families to stabilize their living arrangements. Implement a range of initiatives, including prevention of domestic violence and promotion of mental health, to improve the quality of community life across the state.
- Promote independence through employment support and community integration of people with disabilities and low-income individuals. Provide education and employment support to develop functional and occupational skills and attain independence for Illinois residents struggling with economic marginalization. Offer home-based services, independent living placements and other opportunities to enable individuals with physical, mental and developmental disabilities to reside independently or in cost-effective community settings and maximize their ability to fully participate in their own community. Provide access to child care, education, training and employment to help families achieve and maintain economic stability and reduce dependence on basic assistance programs. Ensure support services are available to assist refugees and immigrants in successful transition to citizenship, independence and integration into communities.
- Provide a wide range of early intervention and treatment services. Reach children and adults at earlier stages of illness, improve access to a wider array of services, increase cost-effectiveness and decrease the negative impact of illnesses on individuals, their communities and the state. Provide a range of treatment services to Illinois residents struggling with addiction and mental illness.
- Transfer programs from the Division of Community Health and Prevention to the Department of Public Health, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority. Move programs to agencies whose focus is more closely aligned with the programs being transferred, including Healthy Families, and juvenile and delinquency prevention, programs for the homeless and violence prevention programs.
Program Proposals
- Redesign the Family and Community Resource Center Model. Conduct a pilot project to redesign the service delivery system of the Family and Community Resource Centers to provide timely and efficient services to clients. Evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot and assess the potential for statewide implementation.
- Rebalance Service Options. Implement a framework for a comprehensive person centered service delivery system, rooted in community-based structures, that meets the needs of people with physical, mental and developmental disabilities with increased targets for community based placements.
- Implement national health care reforms. Partner with other state agencies appointed by the governor to the health care reform implementation council to implement new eligibility, verification and enrollment (EVE) policies and procedures.
