Advancing the Common Good
United Way of Illinois is Advancing the Common Good through Advocacy
United Way of Illinois (UWI) is a statewide association of 57 local organizations that create long-lasting community change by addressing underlying causes of the most significant issues. Common focus areas include helping children and youth achieve their potential, promoting financial stability and family independence, and improving people’s health.
In rural areas, towns and cities across Illinois, local United Ways assess the needs of their communities and work on-the-ground, devising plans to meet local human needs. Through our work, our assessments, and our close ties to community partners and to those we serve, United Ways attain accurate, detailed knowledge about local human needs. This information is a vital tool for policy makers at all levels of government.
United Way brings together stakeholders from all across the community -- government, business, organized labor, nonprofits, and ordinary people to tackle these issues. Together, united, we can inspire hope and create opportunities for a better tomorrow.
UWI recognizes the critical role that state government plays in creating systemic change that can improve people’s lives. United Way engages in public policy advocacy because we recognize that it is our civic obligation to use our experience and knowledge to help inform policy-makers’ decisions regarding policy and funding of critical human service programs.
United Way’s role in public policy is focused on educating elected officials about how health and human service policies affect constituents and advocating for policies and services that promote healthy communities.
By positioning itself as a non-partisan convener, facilitator and coalition builder UWI can bring stakeholders together to listen and create achievable policy solutions to community problems.
Plans for 2011
EDUCATION: HELPING CHILDREN AND YOUTH ACHIEVE THEIR POTENTIAL
Less than 40% of children enter school with the skills needed to succeed. Research shows preschool-age years are critical for cognitive and social development, along with providing a foundation for future success. To effectively reduce the high school drop-out rate, we must begin by improving access to quality and affordable child care and early childhood education.
United Way of Illinois supports:
- Consistent, high-quality and affordable early learning opportunities for all children.
- State programs for infant and toddler home visitation.
- Early learning standards and benchmarks for children to be ready for kindergarten.
- The development of broad-based coalitions and partnerships to position schools as centers of communities focused on increasing student academic achievement.
- Policies to enable ongoing support for children, from birth to college, and collaboration with an array of service agencies committed to improving conditions that support learning.
- Uniform measurement and data collection for all elementary, middle and high school students, as well as dropouts.
- Implementation of the Common Core State Standards, which revise K-12 learning standards to better prepare Illinois students for success in college and careers.
INCOME: PROMOTING FINANCIAL STABILITY AND INDEPENDENCE
The first step toward financial stability is ensuring access to tools and resources that help individuals and families reduce debts, increase income, build savings and grow assets.
United Way of Illinois supports:
- Evidence-based workforce training and job creation programs that help people move forward financially.
- Supportive programming (childcare, transportation, counseling, crisis management, etc.) that helps families with lower-wage jobs address personal and family challenges.
- The creation of a financial literacy service-learning program that incorporates U.S. Department of Treasury Core Competencies.
- Incentives for employers to provide workplace financial literacy courses.
- Enhanced statewide quality standards for K-12 financial literacy curriculum.
- Policies and practices that help eligible lower-income individuals and families enroll in the public, private and informal benefits and ensure that state, local and federal programs and processing systems are structured to facilitate enrollment.
HEALTH
Access to quality, integrated health services and addressing the common underlying factors of chronic disease are key to the health of our community. However, low-income populations do have the same access to needed care as their higher-income counterparts.
United Way of Illinois supports:
- Access to affordable health services for children and low income adults.
- Comprehensive health coverage, which helps to remove barriers to care and improves overall health outcomes.
- Policies that support wellness and healthy lifestyles for children, youth and older adults.
- Efforts to combat childhood obesity, including improvements in school wellness/physical fitness programs.
HUMAN SERVICE SECTOR STRENGTHENING: BUILDING CAPACITY TO ADVANCE THE COMMON GOOD
In order for communities and families throughout Illinois to succeed and prosper, we must repair and strengthen the essential services that protect public health, improve public safety, revitalize local economies and enhance learning.
United Way of Illinois supports:
- A state budget that preserves the current level of investment in Illinois’ health and human services system.
- Policies and procedures that ensure prompt payment to community service providers and require reasonable notice of any material changes to their contracts.
- Fair, efficient and transparent contracting practices between service providers and government funders.
- Efforts to reduce unnecessary state administrative burdens on human service providers and their programs.
- The development of a statewide 2-1-1 information and referral system to connect Illinois residents to needed health and human services.
Read the entire 2011 Public Policy Agenda.
Join United Way in advancing the common good by advocating for issues important to you and your community!
