Legal Aid Committee Selected Highlights 2015

L E G A L A I D C O M M I T T E E
S E L E C T E D H I G H L I G H T S 2 0 1 5
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Policy Changes & Legislation
Legal Council for Health Justice (LCHJ)
Successful Opposition to Budget Cut to Early Intervention Program for Children
The Governor’s FY 2016 budget proposal contained a $23 million
funding cut to the Early Intervention Program (EI) that
serves children ages 0-3. LCHJ staff successfully advocated to
stop the budget reduction and preserve current service levels in
EI.
The Early Intervention Program has the mission of providing therapy
services to children from birth to age three who have diagnosed disabilities,
developmental delays, or substantial risk of significant delays.
Children need to show at least 30% delay in any one area to qualify for
services. As part of his fiscal year 2016 budget proposal, the Governor
pushed for a $23 million cut in Early Intervention funding. The proposed
cuts would have led the EI eligibility threshold to qualify for therapy
services to be raised from a showing of 30% delay to 50% delay.
This cut would have cut approximately half of the number of children
currently receiving EI therapy services from the program. LCHJ staff
worked with parent groups and medical providers to publicize the harm
that would be caused by such budget cuts. Due to this effort, the General
Assembly did not amend the EI statute to cut funding or cut back the
level of delay required to qualify for services. As a result, Illinois continues
to operate some of the best EI programs in the nation in terms of
children served.
Contact: Amy Zimmerman/312-605-1963/amy@legalcouncil.org
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Expansion of SNAP Eligibility
The General Assembly passed and Governor Rauner signed into
law an increase in the “gross income limit” for SNAP eligibility,
which helps workers with slightly higher income but also high
living costs.
The measure extends eligibility to about 40,000 households and
80,000 people. The gross income limit moved from 130% to 165% of
the poverty level. This can bring up to $60 million in additional benefits
(fully federally funded) into the state. The Shriver Center partnered
with Heartland Alliance and many other partners in the food justice
community.
Relief from Consequences of Criminal Records
The General Assembly passed and Governor Rauner signed into
law three bills expanding relief from criminal records. The U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) adopted a
new policy requiring housing authorities to loosen criminal records
barriers to housing.
To summarize, these bills:
-Allow persons with criminal records to petition for sealing sooner;
-Allow persons who obtain education or career certification while still
incarcerated to petition for sealing of their criminal records sooner;
-Lift the lifetime ban on working or volunteering at schools for persons
with records of non-violent offenses.
The HUD policy was the result of the Shriver Center’s report, “When Discretion
Means Denial,” published on the Center’s online Clearinghouse
Community. It forbids blanket bars from public and site-based subsidized
housing based on arrest and certain other records.
Contact: John Bouman/312-368-2671/johnbouman@povertylaw.org