CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF BUILDING BETTER LIVES

Since 1987, Voices for Illinois Children has worked to improve the lives of children of all ages throughout the state by making sure policymakers understand how children and families are affected by their decisions. As a privately funded organization, Voices depends on support from generous donors to remain independent and to succeed in ensuring earlier investments in children and improving education, health care and other vital services. Your contribution is vital to the continued success of our mission of ensuring that all children grow up healthy, happy, safe, loved and well-educated.

Please join us as we celebrate 20 years of building better lives for Illinois children!

Attend our annual dinner | Make a donation | Join our email list

Voices for Illinois Children led the way on many initiatives in education, health care and other vital services that significantly improved the lives of children and their families, including:

• 1991: The Early Intervention program, which provides therapies for young children with developmental delays or disabilities, is created.
• 1994: Healthy Families Illinois, a program that offers voluntary home visits to help new families learn how to have healthy relationships with their children, is created.
• 1998: The KidCare program is created to provide health insurance for low-income children. Also, the Early Childhood Block Grant is established to fund preschool for at-risk young children.
• 2000: The Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit is created to benefit low-income, working families. Read a story about a family who benefited from the EITC.
• 2002: The FamilyCare program is established to offer health insurance to low-income, working parents.
• 2003: The Children's Mental Health Act is approved, paving the way for work on a comprehensive children's mental health system.
• 2006: Preschool for All is approved, making Illinois a national leader in its plans to provide voluntary, quality preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds.