Policy Updates: February 19th, 2025
Afterschool Programs Zeroed Out In The Governor’s Proposed FY26 Budget
Governor JB Pritzker’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Budget leaves a glaring, urgent gap in serving children and families through afterschool that must be addressed immediately. Under the Governor’s leadership, Illinois as a state is doing a great deal to support our most vulnerable populations in the face of national challenges and uncertainty. However, the proposed budget underutilizes the powerful afterschool model, leaving resources on the table at a time when we should be leveraging every asset available to strengthen the infrastructure needed to support marginalized communities.
27,000 children from underserved communities recently lost their afterschool program, and 2,000 staff have lost their jobs due to grants ending. For every one child in an afterschool program, four more are waiting for a spot. The need for afterschool in Illinois is immense, and data shows that programs help students make academic gains for students, reduce violence, and provide essential child care for working families.
Illinois is a nationwide leader in innovative strategies for youth development. Our state has a long history of providing the holistic supports children and families need to thrive. However, this budget doesn’t adequately leverage the vital framework of afterschool programming that research shows can create cost savings for the state.
Notably, the General Assembly agreed with advocates last year that Illinois needed an increased investment in afterschool programs in the budget to meet the growing, unmet need and appropriated an additional $50 million in funding. This funding has still not been released and was zeroed out in the FY26 budget proposal.
We heard the Governor when he said he wanted to give “every Illinois child the support they need to live a healthy, prosperous life.” We want afterschool to be a partner in that work.
This spring we are embarking as a coalition on the “OST for All Campaign.” We are working with legislative champions to put forth a strategy that leverages the strong youth development framework built in Illinois to support underserved children and families. Moving forward, we want to ensure that OST funds are administered efficiently and fueled by best practices by creating an OST Council through SB2036/HB3081so state agencies, legislators, community organizations, and other stakeholders can collaborate and streamline OST efforts. You can read more about the campaign here, and sign on to support it, here. You can also add your organization’s logo, here. Please also consider joining us for our advocacy day on March 19th, in Springfield, to show our state the unifying voice in support of afterschool. You can sign up to advocate, here.
The following are the afterschool line items in the budget proposal and our asks.
- Funding Zeroed Out for After School Programs A and B. In May 2024, the General Assembly provided a historic investment in afterschool by providing two $25 million appropriations for afterschool funding. The Governor’s proposed budget shows that none of this funding was ever released and zeroes out any future funding for this program.
- $17.81 million for DHS’s Teen REACH program. This will be the third year in a row of level funding for this program, which has 25 years of impressive data and outcomes to prove its effectiveness. Teen REACH will receive an additional $1.221.9 million in a reappropriation from unused COVID-19 relief funding. (Please note that this appears as “After School Youth Programs” in the budget. There is a separate line called Teen REACH which is related to the TANF match but is not related to the grant program funding level).
- Our Ask: Increase Teen REACH funding to $27.3 million to meet the needs of increased costs and expand services.
- $25 million for ISBE’s After School Programs. This grant line is level-funded. This is the longstanding grant program from ISBE; however, $17.5 million of this funding goes directly to school districts through a funding formula.
- Our Ask: We support the Governor’s proposal to level-fund this grant program at $25 million and ask that ISBE release the grant competition in May 2025 to ensure a grant start date of July 1, 2025.
- $6 million for After School Matters which is level funding from the last fiscal year.
- Our Ask: We support the Governor’s proposal to level-fund this grant program at $6 million.
- $2 billion for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). This is a decrease of $289 million in funding in the enacted FY25 budget. However, the Governor proposed an additional $85 million in funding to cover the expected increase in CCAP participation and for program rate increases in FY26.
- Our Ask: Fund CCAP at $3.2 billion, with at least $55 million designated to cover an expected increase in CCAP participation and for program rate increases in FY26.
- $180 million for ICJIA’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program. This is a reduction of $20 million from FY25. However, the budget proposal notes that this could vary based on cannabis revenue.
- Our Ask: Fully fund R3 at $202 million.
- $70 million for IDHS’s Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) grant program. This grant program has leveraged federal funding in the past. The state is increasing the state investment in this program from $45 million to $95 million. However, it is unclear how much of this funding will support youth development grantees.
- Our Ask: We support the Governor’s proposed increase of $40 million in new state funds for RPSA.
- $212 million for the third year of the Smart Start Illinois initiative which includes universal Pre-Kindergarten, child care contracts, home visiting, and other intervention services. This funding includes $21.7 million in operational funding for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC).
- Our Ask: Fully fund the Smart Start Illinois program at $212 million.
Send our action alert to encourage the general assembly to equitably fund afterschool and community schools!
For questions or concerns, please reach out to Emma Giamberdino at SpencerE@actnowillinois.org or Elizabeth Hartnett at HartnettE@actnowillinois.org.
