To protest threat of massive purge, 700 children and providers marched on Rauner’s Winnetka estate.

Nearly 700 children and child care providers marched on Governor Rauner’s mansion in Winnetka, Illinois, to protest backdoor cuts to the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

CCAP for working parents is facing a NEW crisis as the Rauner administration presses forward in coming weeks with new provider requirements that appear specifically to target black and Latino caregivers and which could disrupt or terminate care to 38,000 children in the program.

The latest Rauner purge is being conducted under the banner of new federal training requirements that must be completed by Sept. 30^th.The administration is requiring these low-income providers to pay for their own training and miss days of work without pay, an impossible hurdle for most. Providers and children face a similar fate as in 2015 when Rauner hastily cut the eligibility requirements that permanently damaged CCAP to the tune of about 40,000 children who lost care.

Children, child care providers, and families came from all over the Chicago area, and even Kankakee, to protest these backdoor cuts. They marched from Hubbard Woods Park to Governor Rauner’s mansion to protest the governor’s administration’s treatment of child care providers and CCAP.