Illinois launches rural child care quality improvement program

CHICAGO, Ill. (KFVS) - The Illinois Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development (GOECD) announced on March 19 that they will launch a new pilot problem to help rural child care meet the state’s quality of care standards.

Thirty-five centers in rural counties will receive $3.8 million in funding per year for staffing for the next three years.

The following centers are participating in the pilot:

Amity Learning Center, Freeport
Bright Beginning Learning Day Care Center, LLC, Harrisburg
Bright Start Child and Family Education Center, Mt. Vernon
Buckeroo Early Education Center, Inc., Flora
Bumblebee Child Care Center & Pre-K, Mt. Vernon
Centralia’s Mary’s House, Centralia
Decatur Day Care, Decatur
D’s Day Care, Breese
Educational Child Care Center, Jacksonville
Kiddie Kollege Early Childhood Center, Fairfield
Kids Corral, Frankford
Kids Day Out, Murphysboro
Knox County YMCA Early Learning Center, Galesburg
Little Angels Learning Center, Harrisburg
Malone’s Early Learning Center, Inc., Carterville
Murry’s Child Development Center, DeSoto
Prairieland Kids Daycare and Learning Center, Inc., Morris
Presbyterian Church Day Care Center, Jacksonville
Primrose Academy, Sandoval
Rainbow Day Care Center, Inc., Eldorado
RBC Early Education, LLC dba KidZone, Olney
Robin’s Nest, Carbondale
Robin’s Nest, Carterville
Robin’s Nest, Marion
Step by Step, Aquarius in Ottawa
Step by Step, Diamond
Step by Step, McKinley in Ottawa
Step by Step, Morris
Stepping Stones Children’s Center II, LLC, Charleston
Stepping Stones Children’s Center II, LLC, Mattoon
Sunny Days Child Care & Learning Center, Vandalia
The Learning Zone, Mattoon
The Little School House, LLC, Mattoon
We Care Center, Macomb
Yellow Brick Road Learning Adventure, Marion

“Child care investments not only nurture our youngest residents, but also allow working parents to embrace their full potential,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I’m proud that Illinois has been the best in the nation during this pandemic in supporting child care providers and the children they serve. This important pilot program strengthens our ongoing efforts to improve equity in every corner of our state, bringing new resources to regions where families have historically had less easy access to quality child care. The truest measure of our pandemic recovery will be the opportunities and support we offer our working families, and Illinois will leave no community behind as we build the future our residents deserve.”

This program is different from others because it does not only apply to centers already fulfilling the state’s standards. This program was created to help centers who do not already meet the ExceleRate Illinois’ standards for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI).

“Childcare providers frequently operate with limited or scarce resources and when the pandemic hit, the consequences on the childcare industry were devastating,” said State Senator Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg). “The pandemic only reinforced the fact that childcare centers are critical to working families. This program will give facilities and workers in Southern Illinois some much needed financial assistance to help them recover and continue to provide the critical service they do to our communities.”