Julia Strehlow of the Chicago Children s Advocacy Center speaks about the REACH Act to members of the Illinois House committee for curriculum and policies in elementary and secondary education.
A bill requiring updated sex education standards in Illinois public schools has advanced out of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee on School Curriculum and Policies in the Illinois House. The vote fell along party lines.
If the Responsible Education for Adolescent and Children s Health Act, or the REACH Act, becomes law, Illinois would join 30 other states already requiring sex ed. The curriculum under the bill would vary depending on grade level.
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed through Congress along party lines and signed into law by President Joe Biden last week is welcome assistance for many in Peoria-area local government.
In addition to $1,400 stimulus payments for many Americans and boosted unemployment benefits, the bill includes $7.5 billion for The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to combat the coronavirus.
The bill also includes $140 million in relief funding for Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties. For the City of Peoria, the one-time relief funds are welcome to blunt the blow of a painful budget readjustment cycle sparked by reduced revenues as the COVID-19 pandemic set in last spring.
The Baby Fold offers early interventions and prevention-focused programs for families with children that may be at risk for abuse or neglect. Due to COVID, many of those services have gone virtual. In some cases, the nonprofit says, that s worked out well The Baby Fold / Facebook
Social service agencies have had to integrate more technology into their outreach amid COVID. Some of those changes could stick, even after the pandemic ends.
Tony Wilson recently joined the Baby Fold in Normal, serving as director of family and community services. He oversees foster care and intact family services, as well as partnerships with Bloomington-Normal schools and the Healthy Start program for new parents.
Tim Shelley / Peoria Public Radio
The East Bluff Community Center s new brand isn t just cosmetic. It s the first step in an expanded commitment to positively engage with youth in the Peoria neighborhood.
Tim Shelley recently sat down with the EBCC s new executive director, Kari Jones, about their new push towards more youth engagement and outreach in the neighborhood.
Tim Shelley: Tell me a little bit about yourself. I guess you ve been here for less than a year. I think about six months. And a bit about your background and how you came here to Peoria.
Kari Jones: Yeah, actually, this month, end of February, marks exactly six months for me at the East Bluff Community Center. And I do have a little bit of an interesting path that brought me here. I grew up in St. Louis. So I am from the Midwest. But I left, and thought I was never going to come back to the Midwest. And then I came back for graduate school at Western. And my husband s from Texas. We were going to move back to Te