Harper Pushes for Restored Access to Child Care Assistance Program

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, is sponsoring legislation to give more working families access to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which was severely cut by Gov. Rauner in 2015.

“CCAP helps many families with their children’s needs and should not have been a target by the governor to balance the budget,” said Harper. “It helps working families by providing child care services to children so that their parents can go to work. The governor’s cuts to the program have harmed families by forcing parents to stay home, which has reduced their income and made it harder for them to care for their children.”

Harper is the Chief Sponsor of House Bill 2370. Her proposal would set the eligibility threshold for CCAP for families with a minimum income level back to 185% of the federal poverty line. Current CCAP thresholds still leave 30,000 families across Illinois without access to the program. Under Harper’s legislation, those families would once again receive child care assistance. The bill also establishes an accountability measure to ensure that future administrations cannot single-handedly determine the eligibility level for CCAP.

“My bill would allow families who had lost their benefits to get child care and provide families with a sense of security,” said Harper. “Programs like this exist because the state has the responsibility to help lift people out of poverty, and I want to be make sure that the extreme agenda of billionaires does not continue to harm our most vulnerable citizens.”