Birth to Five Illinois

About Us

Illinois has a goal of becoming the best state in the nation for families raising young children by improving and expanding the delivery of child care and early learning programs for children from birth until they start kindergarten. In 2019, Governor JB Pritzker established an Early Childhood Funding Commission charged with studying and making recommendations on funding goals and funding mechanisms that provide equitable access to high-quality early childhood education and care services for all children birth to age five. The resulting report to the governor and a companion primer made a set of recommendations to ensure all families in Illinois regardless of race, ethnicity, home language, ability, and social circumstance have the services needed to prepare their children for school.

As a first step, Illinois established an Early Childhood Transformation Team charged with: ensuring early childhood policy is influenced by community voice and data, building a structure for equitable allocation of current and anticipated funding, and making funding stable, predictable, and consistent for early childhood providers.