Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the Illinois General Assembly, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. This is the current version. The official bill page.
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1 AN ACT concerning State government.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended
5 by adding Section 10-85 as follows:
6 (20 ILCS 1305/10-85 new)
7 Sec. 10-85. Short-term Universal Newborn Home Visiting
8 Services.
9 (a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:
10 (1) The weeks following birth are a critical period
11 for the person who has given birth, the newborn infant,
12 and the entire family, setting the stage for long-term
13 health and well-being.
14 (2) Families may struggle to navigate and access early
15 childhood, health and mental health, and other support
16 service networks in the early postpartum period, and
17 targeted services and supports may fail to identify
18 families who do not present with risk factors.
19 (3) Research also indicates that postpartum education
20 and care leads to lower rates of morbidity and mortality
21 in persons who have given birth, as many of the risk
22 factors for post-delivery complications, such as
23 hemorrhaging or a pulmonary embolism, may not be
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1 identifiable before a person who has given birth is
2 discharged following the birth. Research also indicates
3 that parenting education on health risks for newborns,
4 including substance use, lactation, safe sleep, and other
5 topics, leads to lower infant mortality and morbidity.
6 (4) Illinois communities have invested in and are
7 already implementing short-term universal newborn home
8 visiting services, including Stephenson, Peoria,
9 Winnebago, and Macon counties, and the city of Chicago,
10 and have demonstrated positive outcomes for the physical,
11 mental, and social well-being of newborns and the parents
12 or caregivers of newborns.
13 (5) The 2018 Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
14 Report from the Department of Public Health recommended
15 that the State expand efforts to provide short-term
16 universal home visiting to all mothers within 3 weeks of
17 giving birth.
18 (6) In October 2021, the Department of Human Services
19 received an Early Childhood Comprehensive Services grant
20 from the federal Health Resources and Services
21 Administration to investigate ways to enhance the
22 prenatal-to-age 3 statewide maternal and early childhood
23 system of care by establishing a Universal Newborn Support
24 System that better connects families to programs and
25 services.
26 (7) Short-term universal newborn home visiting
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1 services are a covered Medicaid benefit under the approved
2 State Plan Amendment.
3 (8) While no unified State system exists, local
4 communities are already implementing universal newborn
5 home visiting services with some combination of local,
6 State, federal, and philanthropic funding, and current
7 programs, future programs, and the State would benefit
8 from the cohesion and guidance generated by a statewide
9 vision and supported by a permanent agency administrative
10 home and related infrastructure.
11 (b) The purpose of this Section is to authorize the
12 Department of Human Services to identify, develop, and manage
13 the administrative infrastructure needed to support existing
14 and future short-term universal newborn home visiting
15 services. In carrying out this work, the Department may
16 consider the recommendations contained in the Early Childhood
17 Comprehensive Services grant report when adopting rules to
18 support implementation.
19 (c) By January 1, 2028, the Department may do the
20 following:
21 (1) Create and maintain a list of the voluntary
22 universal newborn home visiting models that align with the
23 State's priorities for approach and outcomes and that may
24 inform future local implementation or support existing
25 State grants. Any universal newborn home visiting model
26 included on the list must:
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1 (A) Be validated by evidence demonstrating
2 effectiveness in promoting the physical, mental, and
3 social well-being of newborn infants and the parents
4 or caregivers of newborn infants.
5 (B) Include an evidence-based assessment of the
6 physical, social, and emotional factors affecting the
7 family and newborn infant, including a health and
8 wellness check of the newborn infant, an assessment of
9 the physical and mental health of a person who has
10 given birth, lactation support as needed, and
11 screening for social determinants or drivers of health
12 and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders using
13 validated tools.
14 (C) Provide information, referrals, and
15 connections to community resources, early childhood
16 services, family supports, community-based
17 organizations, social service agencies, and medically
18 necessary follow-up health care.
19 (D) Offer at least one visit within the first 3
20 weeks after the newborn's discharge from the birth
21 hospital with up to 2 follow-up visits as determined
22 by clinical judgment.
23 (E) Be voluntary and offered at no cost to each
24 family with a newborn infant that resides in the
25 participating community. For purposes of this Section,
26 the family of a newborn infant includes biological
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1 parents, foster and adoptive parents, kinship
2 caregivers, and parents who have recently experienced
3 a stillbirth.
4 (F) Impose no adverse consequences on families who
5 decline to receive services or participate in the
6 program.
7 (2) Coordinate with relevant State agencies to support
8 implementation of State-administered funding for local
9 programs; request, collect, and report available data from
10 universal newborn home visiting implementers and develop
11 recommendations for future data collection and data
12 infrastructure; and develop criteria for prioritizing
13 future State funding, including the identification of
14 communities for potential implementation.
15 (3) Consult, coordinate, and collaborate with relevant
16 stakeholders when designing the infrastructure to support
17 universal newborn home visiting services, including early
18 childhood home visiting programs, community-based
19 organizations, social service providers, maternal and
20 child health stakeholders, hospitals, birth centers, local
21 public health authorities, insurance carriers, and other
22 State agencies.
23 (d) Funds received under this Section shall supplement,
24 and not supplant, existing or new federal, State, or local
25 funding for these services.
26 (e) The Department may adopt any rules necessary to
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1 implement this Section.
2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
3 2027.Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.