Child Care

Providers aren’t the only ones who rely on the money. A small amount of federal funds go toward state child care support programs like CCAP that help families find and afford child care.

The Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council and YWCA McLean County are proposing significant public and private sector investment in affordable child care for the community, after a yearlong study.

U. S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a Democrat from Moline, said he’s willing to consider some limits or cost controls that would help the plan pass in the Senate, where 60 votes are required for passage.

The pause in funding comes about a week after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was freezing child care funds in Minnesota, and asking for an audit of day care centers amid allegations of fraud by day care centers run by Somali residents.

The Bloomington child care center offers infant and toddler daycare, plus preschool and kindergarten prep. The closure further squeezes parents' child care options in the Twin Cities.

WGLT found three business owners and nonprofit organizations that charted their own unique paths toward expanding child care capacity in the area. They’ve all opened, or will soon open, this year.

The cost of child care in McLean County is now the fourth highest in the state, according to data compiled by the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council.

The Baby Fold's early childhood mental health consultants help child care providers across Livingston, McLean, Ford and DeWitt counties with social-emotional learning.

A Bloomington woman who’s run her own home-based daycare for over 20 years plans to break ground this spring on an inclusive child care center that will expand options for families with special needs.

The state of Illinois is rolling out a new app to help parents of abused and neglected children communicate with their Department of Children and Family services caseworkers and with other service providers.