Our Priorities
Achieving a better future for all Illinois babies & families
Our coalition is working to meet the needs of Illinois’ expecting families, infants and toddlers and the early education workforce that supports them by expanding access to more affordable and equitable high-quality learning experiences, health services and economic supports.
Building the Strongest Foundation for Children's Future Success
Four policy-specific goals & eight interconnected target strategies
We have identified four policy-specific goals to advance our Prenatal to Three Agenda. Through eight interconnected and targeted strategies, we will make significant advances and accurately report out on progress to lawmakers, families and experts.
These changes are necessary to reduce the root causes of disparities and help build the strongest foundation for children’s future success in school and life—ultimately ensuring a strong economic and community-focused future for Illinois.
Our Goal: Improve & Increase Access by 2025
Our overall goal is to improve access to high-quality services for 100,000 Illinois infants and toddlers and their families earning under 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (or $53,000/year for a family of four) by 2025.
100,000
more infants
& toddlers
by 2025
Our Policy Priorities
Each fiscal year, we set specific policy priorities to spearhead our collective work. Guided by these priorities, our coalition advances policy change through federal & state legislative and budget advocacy, as well as public awareness and engagement. Check out Raising Illinois' top policy priorities for Fiscal Year 2024.
Healthy Parents & Babies
Address structural racism in service systems that care for pregnant people and new families, promote a strong continuum of support during the first year postpartum, and ensure Illinoisans can connect to resources that holistically address their families’ needs.
Financially Secure Families
Improve families’ economic health and have a direct impact on the well-being and success of Illinois’ infants and toddlers.
High-quality Early Learning
Revamp and strengthen current programs and services and make the most of new investments to support the needs of Illinois’ infants and toddlers and the professionals who work with them and their families.
Strong Infrastructure
Reimagine and rebuild state and community systems to benefit all expecting families, infants and toddlers.
Our 2023 Accomplishments
We're proud to share an in-depth look at all that Raising Illinois accomplished in 2023 across the core areas of our Policy Agenda. Over the course of 2023 we saw two major announcements from the Pritzker administration; the launch of the multi-year Smart Start initiative, which made historic early childhood investments, as well as the announcement of the creation of a new state agency governing early childhood. It's a galvanizing time to be in Illinois, and we look forward to using this momentum to drive even more change for our state's youngest.