Gov. JB Pritzker says he intends to sign legislation imposing a statewide ban on cellphones and other wireless communication devices during instructional time in public schools and charter schools.

The injunction will block the freeze until the case can be heard, meaning Illinois and four other Democratic-led states will have access to the funds.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Thursday announced the state had joined on to a lawsuit that seeks to halt what plaintiffs claim is the Trump administration’s unconstitutional freeze of funding that allows families to access food, safe housing and child care.

The Trump administration announced Tuesday its decision to withhold billions of federal dollars from five Democrat-led states, including Illinois, intended to provide child care and support for low-income families.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday it is no longer recommending that all children receive vaccines against: RSV, flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease and rotavirus. Instead, the federal government now only recommends protection against these diseases for certain children at high risk.

For nearly a decade, national guidelines have recommended introducing safe forms of peanut-containing foods to infants to help reduce allergy risk; however, a new study by Northwestern Medicine found that many families aren’t receiving that guidance from their pediatrician.

Starting in July, about 3,000 early childhood professionals at 86 early childhood care and education agencies funded by the city will see a cost-per-child increase in their salaries, averaging to a 5-10% increase in wages, according to city officials.

Parents who otherwise would not be able to afford child care rely on Head Start when they work or go to school. The program operates across all 50 states and supports more than 600 child care centers and 28,000 children across Illinois.

Pritzker announced plans in 2023 to establish a new agency that would consolidate under one roof a host of state programs currently scattered across several other agencies that serve the needs of families with infants and toddlers. Those include oversight and funding of preschools, childcare centers, home visiting and early intervention programs.

Early intervention, or EI, comprises an array of developmental and social-emotional services like speech and language, occupational and physical therapies and social work that are designed to improve the long-term outcomes of a child and family’s life.

Starting this summer, families in Illinois with school-age children can receive a preloaded card to purchase groceries during summer break as part of a new permanent federal program called Summer EBT, or the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children.

Vowing to make Illinois the top state in the nation for child care accessibility, Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a plan to consolidate all the state’s early childhood programs and funding into one new state agency. Currently, early childhood services are spread across three agencies.

Demand for donor breast milk has been growing as the country continues to recover from last year’s infant formula shortage that left many store shelves empty following a host of supply chain issues and product recalls.

Maryville Academy started nearly 133 years ago as an orphanage, but as a result of major cuts in funding, the agency announced it will no longer house children. We speak with Maryville's executive director about the changes and organization's new direction.