SPRINGFIELD – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) and the Illinois State Board of Education announced Wednesday that funding is available for the Child and Adult Care Food Program for Fiscal Year 2021. The program helps child care centers, Head Start programs, before- and after-school, emergency shelters and day care home providers by providing funding to offer healthy meals to children.

“Our children’s wellbeing continues to be a priority as we continue to face the current pandemic,” Lightford said. “This program will continue to provide thousands of children with healthy meals that may not be available at home.”

The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has caused even more families to depend on federally funded nutrition programs. More than 1,000 child care centers across Illinois will be able to provide children with healthy meals.

CHICAGO – Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) is celebrating the July 1 increase to the state’s minimum wage, believing it will help working families navigate the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So many families are struggling right now,” Lightford said. “Though minimum wage workers may count themselves lucky to have jobs while a great deal are unemployed, they still deserve to make a living wage. This increase takes them closer to that goal.”

The state’s minimum wage increases to $10 per hour July 1, the second in a series of increases required by a law Lightford passed last year after many years of hard work. That law requires the wage to increase by $1 on Jan. 1 of each year going forward until it reaches $15 per hour in 2025.

Lightford also has pushed back against business leaders who have used the pandemic and its associated economic downturn to try to repeal or delay the law.

“Minimum-wage earners hadn’t seen a raise since 2010,” Lightford said. “While I understand and sympathize with struggling small businesses, we can’t ask these hard working women and men to wait for their pay to go up. They’ve been waiting too long already.”

Lightford’s law controls the statewide minimum wage. Some communities, including Cook County and Chicago, have set higher local minimum wages, a move Lightford commends.

The Illinois Department of Public Health partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and other education officials across the state to formulate practical and effective guidance to help schools and colleges resume instruction in the coming months.

Here are a few changes you may see at your child’s school this fall:

• Face masks will be required.
• Assemblies and other gatherings of more than 50 individuals will be prohibited.
• Social distancing will be practiced whenever possible.
• People entering school buildings may be subject to symptom screenings and temperature checks.
• Schools will ramp up cleaning and disinfection procedures to ensure all areas are safe for students and staff.

Each school district will determine how to implement these rules based on their individual needs and available resources. The complete guidance for K-12 schools can be found here.

Colleges and universities have also been provided specific recommendations, including mask requirements, the installation of hand sanitizing stations and regular symptom monitoring. Even with these changes, colleges expect dormitories, cafeterias, libraries, bookstores and other amenities of college life to remain available to students. The Illinois Community College Board has developed a separate plan for community colleges to facilitate a return to campus.

For students preparing to pursue higher education this fall, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission is offering free one-on-one assistance and other online resources to help navigate financial aid programs. Families can also sign up for a free text messaging service to get reminders for important deadlines and answers to college planning questions.

To make sure all schools can meet these guidelines and prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will provide public K-12 districts with 2.5 million cloth face masks for all students and staff.

Although this transition won’t be easy, it’s vital students stay engaged in learning—enabling in-person instruction is the first step toward ensuring a full recovery for our schools after the COVID-19 crisis.