Babies Can't Wait: Call on Gov. Pritzker to Propose a $40M Increase to Early Intervention (EI) Funding for FY2027!

What is the problem? 

As families of infants and toddlers with medical conditions, disabilities, or developmental delays, we know firsthand the difference Early Intervention (EI) services–like speech, occupational, and physical therapies–can make for our children. These critical services help our children thrive, empower us to better support their needs, and even save our communities future health and educational costs by reducing the need for future special education. 

But right now, across Illinois, thousands of families like ours are stuck on unprecedented waitlists, unable to get the critical therapies our children are legally entitled to receive. Every month, hundreds more families are waiting just to complete the intake and evaluation process. 

Instead of starting services within 30 days, as required by state law, we are waiting months, sometimes more than a year. Many of us were never even told we have a legal right to these services. Some of our children turn three and age out of the program without ever receiving a single therapy session. Our babies are losing the most important window of brain development—and the burden should NOT fall on families to fight the state for services we are already entitled to receive! Yet, more and more families are filing formal complaints because we have no other choice–and those complaints have more than tripled in just the past year.* 

Why is this happening?  

The Illinois General Assembly flat-funded the Early Intervention program again in the Fiscal Year 2026 Illinois state budget despite a severe workforce crisis. Illinois is unable to retain therapists, much less attract new ones, because reimbursement rates simply don't cover the cost of providing these essential services. A recent Afton Partners cost model shows that EI providers earn about half of what they could make in similar fields, and that Illinois must invest $168 million more annually to cover the full cost of delivering EI services. This includes increasing provider rates by an average of 95%. 

This pay gap is driving providers out of the system, leaving families waiting longer and longer for services. While a small rate increase was approved this year using leftover Medicaid funds, it barely covers inflation and doesn’t address the true cost of providing services. Without better pay and support, more therapists will keep leaving—and families like ours will keep suffering.

We need long-term investment to recruit and retain enough providers so that every infant and toddler can get timely services. EI is most effective during the first three years of life, when children’s brains are most ready to grow and change. Our babies can’t wait.

What are we asking for? 

Illinois Families for Early Intervention, Inc, a newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by and for Illinois EI parents/caregivers, is calling on Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly to appropriate a $40 million funding increase for the EI program in the Fiscal Year 2027 Illinois state budget. This investment would allow the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) to:

• Increase pay for EI providers to keep them in the field and bring in new providers. 
  
  
• Improve referral, intake, and evaluation processes, and ensure services are available in a timely manner. 

Without this urgent funding, more providers will leave, waitlists will keep growing, and more babies will lose their only chance to benefit from Early Intervention.

Help us get our babies off waitlists. Sign the petition and tell our leaders: Fund Early Intervention now! 

*Are you or someone you know experiencing challenges receiving EI services? Learn more about EI timelines and your rights and how to file a complaint if you aren’t receiving timely services.  

Illinois Families for Early Intervention, Inc.