Child care funding freeze could worsen shortage in Illinois, providers say

Illinois already has too few providers and many rely on funding from federal programs.

(CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS) – Pamela Franks, owner of Playful Steps Child Care, has been taking care of low-income children and their families in her Springfield home for more than 30 years.

Franks has a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in early childhood education, and she’s made child care her career. Now, she takes care of eight children. Because she provides the care in her home, Franks is the cook, nurse, teacher, counselor and marketer. She doesn’t have any staff and doesn’t want to hire any.

To make it all work, Franks said both she and the families she works with rely on Illinois’ Child Care Assistance Program, the state-run program that provides families with financial assistance for child care costs, also known as CCAP.

“The subsidy program allows low-income families to get the same amount of quality care that higher tax bracket families would get,” Franks said.

Funding for CCAP comes from a mix of state funds and federally funded grant programs like the Child Care and Development Fund and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.

But the funding for those programs is now under threat.

Trump’s child care freeze

In early January, the Trump administration froze $10 billion in child care subsidy funds for Illinois and four other Democratic-led states. The freeze affected about $1 billion for Illinois.

The administration said it was because of suspicions about fraud but provided no details or proof. But the five blue states targeted in the freeze say it’s a political move, that they already protect against fraud, and the administration intentionally gave them “an impossible task on an impossible timeline.”

Federal judges have twice issued temporary restraining orders on the freeze. The current order will end Friday, Feb. 6.

Franks has been preparing for a potential permanent freeze by cutting some of the services she provides like digital communications or not buying equipment.

“I’m trying to see if I can have a few reserves. But those reserves would only keep, maybe, my business open for one more month if the federal freeze happens,” she said.

Franks said she’s been preparing the families she takes care of, too. They told her they’d be “devastated” if she closed because, without child care, they would have to quit their jobs and many of them don’t have family or other support nearby.

Going to another provider or center likely wouldn’t work for them either because Springfield — and the state at large — has a child care provider shortage, and bigger providers rely on the subsidies, too.

“Most of the programs that I have in my community take the subsidy program,” Franks said. “So even day care centers, they would have to shut their doors.”

Three-quarters of state faces shortage

According to a 2026 report released by The Civic Federation, a nonpartisan, independent Illinois government research organization, almost three-quarters of Illinois counties are considered child care deserts, particularly in rural areas. That means a geographic area where there are either no providers at all, or the shortage is so severe there are three children for every open child care spot.

Some of the reasons for the shortage, in Illinois and nationwide, go back to child care business closures during the pandemic, according to reporting from the time.

A 2025 report by Illinois Answers Project explored how strict limits on CCAP have been a barrier since former Gov. Bruce Rauner briefly implemented them in 2015. Those limits cut off day care for thousands of children at the time. The state has since corrected course, but limits are still stricter than federal recommendations, the report says.

Another big reason for the shortage is that child care providers make low wages, even with state assistance. According to The Civic Federation, child care providers make less than the cost of living with an average estimated wage of $16.48 an hour.

State investment has increased over the years, but “spending growth has not kept pace with total system costs driven by inflation, population need, or provider cost escalation,” the report states.

The report also notes that a federal freeze “would limit the State’s ability to respond to rising costs and demand without additional state resources.”

Providers aren’t the only ones who rely on the money. A small amount of federal funds go toward state child care support programs like CCAP that help families find and afford child care.

If a family is approved for the program, CCAP pays providers directly based on a child’s attendance.

That’s another reason why the parents Franks works with would likely have to stop working, or change jobs, if the subsidy freeze goes through.

“They couldn’t afford child care without the subsidy program,” she said. “My parents are receiving some kind of assistance through the federal government, whether it be SNAP or TANF, all my parents receive some kind of assistance.”

Ripple effects

Angela Farwig at Illinois Action for Children said the ripple effects of the freeze would be widespread across the state and its economy.

“Child care is such an essential support that helps families work or attend school,” she said. “This is an issue that impacts everyone from children to families to all the way up to our whole state’s economy. If we don’t have child care, we don’t have the workforce.”

That’s why providers like Franks have been advocating for years about what drives the child care shortage and how to fix it.

If the freeze takes place and Franks closes her doors, she said she’ll likely have to give up her 30-year career because she won’t be able to continue providing child care.

“It’s not so easy for me to just go out there and say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just going to stop doing day care and find a job,’” Franks said. “Because then, who’s to say what kind of job I will find? If I’ll find a job? How long will it take to find a job? It’s not that easy as well to just give