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The report summarizes outcomes from a June 2022 survey of 166 parents approved between October 2021 and February 2022, plus follow-up interviews with 28 mothers. It also describes how parents learned about IAS and highlights key benefits, along with stated limitations in generalizing survey findings.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/expanding-illinois-child-care-assistance-to-job-and-school-search-experiences-of-cook-county-parents/306836/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/expanding-illinois-child-care-assistance-to-job-and-school-search-experiences-of-cook-county-parents/306836.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"\tJames","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-20","2026-09-19",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":9},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What is the CCAP Initial Activity Search (IAS) policy and who can use it?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"IAS is a temporary CCAP policy that lets eligible parents receive three months of child care assistance to seek employment or enroll in school. Families must meet CCAP income eligibility requirements to participate.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How did the IAFC Research Team collect the survey and interview data?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"In June 2022, the team surveyed 166 Cook County parents approved for IAS between October 2021 and February 2022, offering a $20 e-gift card. In October 2022, it conducted follow-up interviews with 28 mothers, offering an additional $25 e-gift card.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What benefits did parents report from the IAS policy?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Parents reported that IAS enabled them to complete job and school search activities more efficiently and with greater peace of mind. Survey results also indicated many parents found employment or enrolled in school during the three-month period.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},306836,1789841675,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":73,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":20,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":125,"read_time":47},2336474466412,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Expanding Illinois Child Care Assistance to Job and School Search:  \nExperiences of  \nCook County Parents  \nMay 2023  \nIntroduction  \nThe Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is a state-and federally-funded program administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services that enables Illinois parents to work and attend school by paying part of the cost of their child care.1 CCAP allows families to access quality child care programs that would  \notherwise be unaffordable. Families are eligible if their income is less than 225% of federal the poverty level.  \nHistorically, CCAP required parents to have a job or be enrolled in a school or training program to qualify for child care assistance, but it has long been a challenge for parents to look for a job or school program and attend interviews without already having affordable child care. These challenges became even more widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic when many parents lost or left their jobs. In October 2021, CCAP instituted a temporary policy that allows parents to receive three months of child care assistance to seek employment or enroll in school. This initiative is called the Initial Activity Search (IAS) and is effective through June 30, 2024.  \nIllinois Action for Children (IAFC) is the Child Care Resource and Referral Agency and CCAP administrator serving Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago and its inner suburbs. In the first 15 months of the IAS policy, IAFC approved 4,055 IAS applications and served 3,553 unique families. Since families can reapply for assistance through the IAS policy after 12 months, the number of applications is greater than unique families served.  \nThis report attempts to capture the key benefits and limitations of Illinois’ IAS policy in its early implementation, and in supporting parent employment and school enrollment. It relies on input from parents approved for the IAS during the first five months of the policy. Data were collected and analyzed by the IAFC Research Team.  \n1 CCAP funds are a mix of the state’s General Revenue Fund, federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and the federal Child Care Development Block Grant.  \nExpanding Illinois Child Care Assistance toJob and School Search: Experiences of Cook County Parents  \nSylvia Cotton Center for Research & Policy Innovation 2  \nMethodology  \nIn June 2022, the IAFC Research Team surveyed 166 Cook County parents who, according to IAFC program records, were approved for child care assistance under the Initial Activity Search between October 2021 and February 2022. We recruited parents through a text message campaign and offered a $20 e-gift card for completion of the survey. All parents had the choice to take the survey in English or Spanish. While 166 survey responses are useful to learn about a range of parent experiences, they are not enough to generalize the results to all parents approved for the IAS.  \nIn October 2022, we conducted follow-up interviews with a subset of 28 parents, all mothers. These parents received an additional $25 e-gift card. Our recruitment for interviews balanced the number of parents who found employment or enrolled in school during the IAS period (15 parents) with those who did not (13 parents). Additionally, we selected several interviewees who mentioned child care and job search issues in their surveys to better understand those challenges.  \nSee the appendix on page 13 for information on the characteristics of parent respondents.  \nHow parents learned about the Initial Activity Search  \nHalf of the parents surveyed indicated that they learned that they could receive child care assistance to find a job or school program from their child care providers. Follow up interviews found that many of these parents were informed by the provider at the time they inquired about getting care. Some parents already had their children enrolled when their provider told them about the IAS. For example, three parents had children in center Head Start","cbCaibPXaS5t6ELU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibPXaS5t6ELU","pdf",1664135,"English","# Introduction\n# Methodology\n# How parents learned about the Initial Activity Search\n# Benefits of the Policy\n## Parents found employment and enrolled in school","[{\"question\":\"What is the CCAP Initial Activity Search (IAS) policy and who can use it?\",\"answer\":\"IAS is a temporary CCAP policy that lets eligible parents receive three months of child care assistance to seek employment or enroll in school. Families must meet CCAP income eligibility requirements to participate.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the IAFC Research Team collect the survey and interview data?\",\"answer\":\"In June 2022, the team surveyed 166 Cook County parents approved for IAS between October 2021 and February 2022, offering a $20 e-gift card. In October 2022, it conducted follow-up interviews with 28 mothers, offering an additional $25 e-gift card.\"},{\"question\":\"What benefits did parents report from the IAS policy?\",\"answer\":\"Parents reported that IAS enabled them to complete job and school search activities more efficiently and with greater peace of mind. Survey results also indicated many parents found employment or enrolled in school during the three-month period.\"}]","Expanding Illinois Child Care Assistance to Job and School Search - Experiences of Cook County Parents | PDF"]