Commission Hears Complaint Concerning Assessor (and Updates from Birth to Five Illinois)

April 10, 2025

Original and complete coverage in Metropolis Planet by Terra Temple.

In Other Business

Commissioners met with Region 21 representatives from Birth to Five Illinois. Family/community engagement supervisor Chelsi Diles was joined by Family Council members Faith Allen and Karen Beech. This is the third year for Birth to Five Illinois, which is an equity-driven statewide regional system aimed at redesigning the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system with families at the center.

Region 21 serves Massac, Johnson, Franklin and Williamson counties; its office is headquartered in Vienna. Diles said year one focused on learning from community stakeholders what the region’s challenges, barriers and strengths are in early childhood services; a needs assessment was developed from that feedback. Year two took two of those points — lack of Head Start educators and lack of early childhood programs to assist families — and built an action plan.

Diles said while they are seeing a greater need for early childhood education, those educators are becoming harder to find. “There’s a lot of burnout and a lot teachers leaving the field. It’s causing us vital and essential programs,” she said. Stratemeyer suggested to the commissioners that the educator portion of the program may benefit from the county’s Energy Transition Community Grant moneys. Year three is focusing on a third point from the needs assessment — mental and behavioral health. Diles said those services and programs are difficult to find in rural Southern Illinois, plus, “families just don’t know where to go when trying to access resources.”