Illinois
Higher diaper prices are impacting Illinois families. How is the state responding?
Rising diaper prices have impacted families statewide and nationally, causing them to cut into their savings and skip bill payments to make do.
According to a 2023 survey published by the National Diaper Bank Network, approximately one in twocaregivers experience diaper insecurity — defined by parents that cannot provide routine access to clean diapers for their children.
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The option of buying in bulk doesn’t exist for many families, Brightpoint policy manager Eric Mayo said, causing them to buying smaller quantities at a higher price per unit.
“For a family that’s not experienced in diaper insecurity, if you ask them how many diapers they have, they answer… it’s like ‘Oh, I have a box’ or ‘I got a half box there,” he said in a phone interview. “If you have family facing diaper insecurity, they can tell you exactly how many they have left. And they can ballpark you know the day or even the hour when they expect those diapers to run out.”
Now legislation advancing in the Illinois House of Representatives looks to alleviate the growing issue.
House Bill 545, sponsored by Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, would require the Department of Human Services to establish add-on rates for childcare providers participating in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program to purchase supplemental diapers for children in need.
Per the bill, the add-on rates should allow for a family participating in the program full-time to purchase 50 diapers per month for each child under 3 and 25 diapers for part-time participants. Those that run out of diapers would also not be turned down from participating in the program.
Mayo said the program’s cost ranges from $4 million to $6 million, which acts like an “additional check” for families trying to ensure their children have diapers. It comes as Gov. JB Pritzker is also calling for lawmakers to approve a $1 million pilot program to be approved by lawmakers in the upcoming budget for the department to distribute free diapers throughout the state.
The program is a “good start,” said Mayo, and with families unable to purchase diapers through SNAP or WIC benefits the burden increasingly falls on the state and social service providers.
“I think the proposal, HB 545, from Representative Mason really complements what the governor is trying to do,” he said. “It’s really about how they’re trying to solve for pain points, where the lack of a diaper sort of leads to other consequences within our system.”
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.
An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.
The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.
Storm Reports
Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55
Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail
Rain reports
West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″
Historic tree dating back to Abraham Lincoln damaged in Springfield
It may be the last living tree standing when Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in the Springfield neighborhood from 1844 to 1861.
More than 30,000 Illinois residents reported power outages Wednesday morning amid severe storms and destructive winds.
The National Weather Service forecast two rounds of severe weather throughout the day, issuing a tornado watch early Wednesday morning across central Illinois.
Where were power outages reported in Illinois?
More than 35,000 of the more than 5.8 million customers tracked on PowerOutage.com reported outages Wednesday, as of noon.
The majority of these outages were concentrated in west-central Illinois in Warren, Henderson and Woodford counties.
More than 93% of the customers tracked in Henderson County and nearly 60% of those in Warren County were impacted by outages.
Less widespread outages were also reported in DeKalb, Mercer, Knox, Menard, Jefferson and Gallatin counties.
Electric service company Amaren was by far the most impacted utility provider, followed Commonwealth Edison Company and Corn Belt Energy Corporation.
Illinois power outage map
Report power outages in Illinois
Illinois residents can report power outages in their area at PowerOutage.com.
Illinois power outage tracker
To track where power outages have been reported and where they have been restored, follow the USA Today power outage tracker.
Chicago weather radar
Central Illinois weather radar
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