Yang Rohr Expands Child Care for First Responders with New Law

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – First responders working non-traditional schedules can now better access child care under a new law supported by state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville. 

“Emergency responders including nurses, police officers and firefighters, in addition to managing the stresses of their work, have to worry about how they will raise a family when their work schedules don’t fall within normal business hours,” Yang Rohr said. “This law helps relieve that burden, so that first responders don’t have to sacrifice child care or their job for one or the other.”=

Yang Rohr sponsored House Bill 1571, which establishes a new Off-Hours Child Care Grant Program and supports child care providers by extending hours of operation to accommodate people who work late or overnight hours. Firefighters, law enforcement personnel, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and other workers who can’t access child care during normal business hours will have more options for taking care of their young children. The bill received bipartisan support and was recently signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker. 

“When you’re on-call at the fire department, police headquarters or in the hospital room late at night, it’s often hard to find safe and good quality child care options,” Yang Rohr said. “By sending this grant money directly to child care facilities, they will be able to stay open longer and be able to take care of these young children.” 

The law will be implemented by July 1, 2023.