A $6 million state budget increase in Early Intervention is a far cry from the $40 million proponents were seeking for services.

Fourth in a series looking at Early Intervention funding in the state 

In the end, numbers won out over narratives, according to Early Intervention proponents. 

While a $6 million state budget increase is nothing to thumb your nose at, the funding boost is a far cry from the $40 million proponents were seeking for Early Intervention services. 

The stories of Christopher Evans, a South Barrington 3-year-old whose families waited 1½ years for EI services, and other families didn’t sway the Governor’s Office, which didn’t move off the $6 million increase it originally proposed for Early Intervention. 

“It looks like it was just math,” said Karen Berman, senior director of Illinois policy at Start Early, a Chicago-based nonprofit public-private partnership advancing early learning and care. “The state anticipates 1,800 more children in the system. 

“They looked at trends and did their analysis. The average cost of Early Intervention services is $3,300 per child. Doing the math, $3,300 x 1,800 = (nearly) $6 million.” 

Berman said the $6 million increase will do little to put a dent in the wait lists for EI therapeutic services or increase payments for therapists, who continue to turn to other higher-paying therapy jobs. 

“Our concern is the data shows that 10 percent of families who are already qualified for services are on wait lists,” Berman said. “Where is the money for that? It is difficult to bring in more children unless they bring up workforce compensation. You can’t do that with a $6 million increase.” 

Last year, state lawmakers increased the budget for Early Intervention services by $40 million, leading to a 10 percent hike in payments for providers. Berman said the hope was to get another $40 million increase through this budget year to get provider payments more in line with where they should be and help get wait lists down. 

“It is not adequate,” Berman said of the budget increase. “You can’t be satisfied with the increase. They budgeted for the program assuming that everything is stable — and working.” 

Raising Illinois, a public-private partnership of individuals and organizations promoting high-quality health care, quality learning experiences, and economic security, said the state must do more to assist children from birth to age 3. 

“As appreciative as we are for these crucial investments, we’re disappointed to see funding for Early Intervention and (The Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity) well below the amounts families and providers advocated for this spring,” said Simone Santiago, director of Raising Illinois. “We know this was a difficult year in navigating the state budget process, so we celebrate these transformational investments, but we must continue to do more to ensure that Illinois is the best state in the nation to raise a child.” 

Leaders with the Illinois Early Intervention Grassroots Alliance, a group of EI providers, said they were disappointed in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget. Early Intervention is a program that time and time again has been shown to save the state money in the long run, they said. 

“This allocation of only $6 million additional funding for ‘anticipated caseload increases’ stands in complete opposition to the recent state-funded studies on the EI system,” the group said in a statement. 

“Current data shows a whopping 10 percent of families waiting beyond the legally required timeline of 30 days to implement therapy services,” their statement continued. “In some areas of the state, these service delays affect more than 35 percent of families who complete the EI evaluation process.” 

The Grassroots Alliance Leadership Team of Darcy Armbruster, Paulina Polek, Sarah Ziemba and Stefanie O’Donnell said their efforts now switch to lobbying for more Early Intervention funds in the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget. 

“We won’t allow this disappointment to sit with us too long at the Grassroots Alliance,” the Leadership Team said. “Our minds are now turned toward the future of Early Intervention, because babies cannot wait. 

“Every day that goes by with these children on wait lists is a violation of the rights of children and families in the state of Illinois. We turn our energy to continuing to fight to get these children services, increasing our legislators’ understanding of the vital importance of this program, and being a voice for the families we serve.” 

The Grassroots Alliance Leadership Team noted that a cost model study being finalized by Afton Partners has found that for every one hour of work that is paid time Early Intervention providers put in two hours of work that is unpaid. 

“That is why Early Intervention therapists continue to leave the field, leading to the doubling of recent wait lists for EI services,” the Grassroots Alliance leaders said. 

Start Early’s Berman said Early Intervention leaders don’t have a FY 26 budget goal yet but thought at a minimum it would be $40 million again. 

She urged individuals wanting to help the EI cause to be in contact with their state legislators. 

“They are back home in their districts now,” Berman said. “Talk to them about why Early Intervention services are important.” 

Berman said advocates can also reach out to the Pritzker administration to share their concerns. 

“These services are so important to children and families,” Berman said. “Families who get Early Intervention services see their children really make progress. It does prevent and mitigate delays. 

“While we face a crisis in the system, the other thing is that we need to make sure families still know there are programs for them. They should still seek services. 

“With health care providers, they can see the long wait lists and be concerned about referring families for Early Intervention services. They still need to refer families for services.” 

Berman said families need to know that they have rights when it comes to Early Intervention services. 

“Families need to know the timelines and the protections and the safeguards,” she said. “When waiting, they need to know there is something they can do about it. They can advocate for themselves. 

“A family member will often say, ‘I didn’t know there was something I could do while on the wait list.’ I hope we can work in partnership with other organizations so that families do know there is something they can do.” 

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com