Dear Partners,

The Governor’s FY23 proposed budget reflects stability, progress, and compassion for the residents of Illinois. This is because of the fiscally responsible decisions of the Governor and of the leaders in the General Assembly.

Many more details about the budget proposal are available at www.Budget.Illinois.Gov. In the meantime, we wanted to share just a few IDHS highlights from the Governor’s FY23 proposal.

The FY23 IDHS Proposed Budget includes $11.625 billion in State and Federal funding authority for IDHS, including $5.253 billion in General Revenue Funds. These investments will allow IDHS to continue to strengthen the services we provide in partnership with thousands of community-based providers statewide.

Division-by-Division Highlights:

Developmental Disabilities

• $69.6M to fund 700 people with I/DD who need services, a 5.9% increase in the Home-Based program, a 2% mid-year grant COLA
• GuidehouseRate Study implementation:
• $62.8 million to implement the CILA Rate Calculator, effective 1/1/23
• $45.1M to fund the annualization of the FY22 rate increases and liability changes
• $32.0 million for direct service providers’ $1.00/hr wage increase, effective 1/1/23

Early Childhood

• $300 million in Strengthen & Grow Child Care Grants
• Child Care Assistance Program providers will receive a 3.5% rate increase in July and a 4.5% rate increase in December
• $108.9M in General Revenue Funding to support Early Intervention services
• $10.04M for Healthy Families Illinois and $6.87M for Parents Too Soon program ARPA re-appropriations
• Continued support for FY22 Child Care policy changes
• $1 co-pays for families at or below 100% FPL
• 7% co-pay cap for families
• Eligible for services until income exceeds 250% FPL
• Attendance policy to 70% of eligible days a month

Family and Community Services

• ARPA re-appropriations to support
• $55.0M Welcoming Centers
• $40.0M Youth Employment
• $6.5M Teen REACH
• Transfer of Serve Illinoisfrom IDPH to IDHS

Mental Health

• $75M to support 9-8-8 Mobile Crisis Response and Call Center
• Authority to use $5M in cannabis tax funds to support a student loan repayment program to build up the behavioral health workforce
• Authority to use $4M to partner with universities to educate and train persons with lived expertise in mental health or substance use recovery to become Certified Recovery Support Specialists or Certified Peer Recovery Specialists

Rehabilitation Services

• $97.0M to support Home Services Program wage increases and 1,200 projected net new customers
• $21.0M Increased investment in tech assistance to meet the needs of Illinoisans with disabilities in their educational, employment, and independent living goals
• $2.5M expansion of State match to support the Federal Vocational Rehabilitation program and related costs

Substance Use Prevention & Recovery

• $77.1M Authority to continue to use federal ARPA funds awarded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in order to expand: ­
• mobile medication assisted recovery
• services to address the social determinants of health (i.e., housing)
• harm reduction strategies
• $10.0M Increased investment in Naloxone and workforce training

Office of Firearm Violence Prevention

• Year 2 of 3 funding toward the Governor’s $250 million commitment to reduce gun violence in Illinois

Thanks for all you do to support the human services ecosystem in Illinois. With Governor Pritzker’s support, it is poised to be stronger than ever before.

Sincerely,

Grace B. Hou

Secretary, IDHS