Making Illinois’ Early Childhood Services the Best They Can Be

Join Your Region’s Action or Family Council!

Birth to Five Illinois works in every community in the State to:

Find out how families are accessing local Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services
Inform decisionmakers and the community of the ECEC services families need
Take action to advance ECEC access and expansion

There are 39 Birth to Five Illinois Regions throughout the State, and each Region has its own Family Council and Action Council.

During our first year, we focused on:

Establishing membership for our inaugural Action Councils and Family Councils
Hosting focus groups and interviews to hear from as many community members as possible
Supporting local stakeholders in coming together to identify the strengths and determine the Early Childhood needs within their own communities
Producing an Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessment for each Region that includes community recommendations for how to improve Early Childhood services for families

In year two, our Councils:

Continued to build relationships with local community stakeholders
Shared their Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessments with the community to gather additional input
Supported the community in developing Regional Action Plans based on the recommendations identified in the needs assessment
Released another community needs assessment, focused on Mental and Behavioral Health

Next year, the Birth to Five Illinois Councils will:

Share, and collect feedback on, the Mental and Behavioral Health Needs Assessments
Continue to advocate for the successful implementation of activities identified in the Regional Action Plans (using the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process)
Update the Regional Action Plans to address the needs identified in the Mental and Behavioral Health Needs Assessments

We are currently accepting candidates from all Regions of the State!

Birth to Five Illinois Action Councils: We are recruiting community members with a wide variety of experience, both in and outside ECEC.
Birth to Five Illinois Family Councils: We are recruiting parents and caregivers who have children aged eight and under.

Yes! Find your county and click on the link below to visit the dedicated page for your Region where you can: