Thread by @GovPritzker

I want to provide you an update on what my team and I have been doing to ease the burden of this moment on our most vulnerable residents, our families and our children.

Most of you are adhering to our Stay at Home order, but not everyone has a home to go to.

Not everyone has a safe home to go to.

Not everyone has the same ability to put food on the table.

Not everyone can stay home with their children.

These are problems that existed long before COVID-19, as did the need for a meaningful solution — but it is especially important now that we are doing all that we can to help all our residents through this crisis.

First, child care: We're making sure our essential workers have safe day care for their children while they do the critical work to keep us safe.

While children who can stay home should stay home, we want to make sure every child in Illinois has a safe, supervised place to go.

We received 600+ applications for small-group emergency child care licenses from those looking to help essential workers, from health care providers to grocery store employees.

Also, hundreds of child care homes are staying online to provide care in socially distanced settings.

And now, we'll be providing each of the providers who have stepped up in this time of need with an additional stipend: $750 each for licensed homes, $2,000 each for centers running 1 or 2 classrooms, and $3,000 each for those running three or more.

Parents and guardians looking to find child care should call our toll-free statewide number, 888-228-1146, or visit our “Families and Children Resources” page on coronavirus.illinois.gov.

Second, food access — something top of mind for so many parents as schools have closed and layoffs skyrocketed.

I want to remind everyone that as long as schools are closed, students who qualify for free and reduced lunch can get their meals through their local district.

For programs like SNAP and the Women, Infants, and Children program — WIC — my team at @ILHumanServices is submitting multiple waivers to the federal government to deliver as much nutrition support to as many Illinoisans as possible.

Already, we’ve been able to automatically extend SNAP certifications set to expire in March, April or May another six months: until September, October and November.

We’ve also been able to waive the physical presence requirements for SNAP applicants and participants.

We’re expecting an additional $80 million in federal money to come to Illinois in April through the SNAP program — that’s another $80 million worth of food on the table for our residents that also stimulates our local economies. That’s real impact in our communities.

Illinois is also home to many residents who don’t have a permanent home to stay in: DHS has gone through its budget with a fine-toothed comb & redirected millions of additional dollars to address all aspects of homelessness assistance statewide, incl. expanding temporary shelter.

That’s on top of the doubling my administration has done of the state Homelessness Prevention Program in the last year.

We're also increasing all our existing state homelessness service contracts by an additional 5%.

Finally, if you are experiencing domestic violence or live in fear of it, I know how much scarier or complicated the message of “Stay Home” might sound.

If that’s the case for you, please know that you can call our Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-877-863-6338.

I want to thank everyone at @ILHumanServices who have moved mountains & then some to increase the depth and breadth of Illinois’ human and social services network, including easing access for newly eligible users and temporarily eliminating the renewal process wherever possible.