First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan Announces $4.5 Million In Additional Funding For Healthy Families Illinois Program

CHICAGO -- Illinois First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan today announced $4.5 million in additional funding for Healthy Families Illinois to prevent child abuse and neglect through home visits to families at risk.

The Duncan YMCA, where Mrs. Ryan made the announcement, is sharing a $30,000 HFI funding increase to the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. "Healthy Families is teaching mothers and fathers to realize the potential that is in all of us - to unconditionally love our children and raise them in an environment that will allow them to blossom," said Mrs. Ryan.

HFI is a program of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The additional $4.5 million statewide increases the FY 2000 budget for Healthy Families Illinois to $8 million and has allowed the program to add 18 new sites, for a total of 46 sites.

A recent DHS report shows that since its inception in 1997, HFI has made a difference in the lives of the families it serves. "In FY98, Healthy Families Illinois served 532 families and recorded just eight instances of child abuse or neglect," said DHS Secretary Howard A. Peters III. "This is nearly identical to the rate in the general population, which means we are on the right track. What's even better is that the program keeps growing as more families request our help. We expect to serve 3,200 families during the current fiscal year."

Healthy Families Illinois emphasizes a personal touch. Trained staff regularly visit new parents at home to provide individualized guidance about parenting and child development. The program is based on Healthy Families America, a well-established initiative implemented by Prevent Child Abuse America. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia now operate programs modeled on Healthy Families America.

In Illinois, the program serves families that are at risk for child abuse or neglect based on a list of factors such as abuse, mental illness, low self-esteem and psycho-social stress. Program grantees who serve these families must meet 11 state-specified program criteria including staff training and qualification, a commitment to provide intensive services and the use of community-based program design and individual plans of care.

The department works with many partners to administer Healthy Families Illinois. The Ounce of Prevention Fund, which operates six HFI programs, also hosts a training institute for home visitors and helps to oversee HFI grants. Voices for Illinois Children and Prevent Child Abuse Illinois belong to a group that helps develop and review grant proposals. Also, Northern Illinois University has contracted with DHS to do a statewide evaluation of HFI that will study 800 families.

This effort is based on more than 20 years of research showing that parents who receive ongoing education and support are less likely to abuse or neglect their children. The need for these services is critical; as of October 1999, there were 36,078 Illinois children in foster or substitute care.