SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The time has come for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood. It launched July 1 under the leadership of Secretary Teresa Ramos (pictured). “We have learned more in the last decade about this brain science in those earliest years,” said Ramos, “how important those earliest years of life are to all future success in school, lifetime success, and. across the state, all these services were organized differently.”
The new department has taken preschool services from the Illinois State Board of Education, home visits and early intervention from the Illinois Department of Human Services, and child care licensing from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
But Ramos says there is more to this than simply shifting some responsibilities from three departments into one. “Not only are we ruthlessly focused on serving families with young children in a better, more cohesive way and continuously improving, we want state government to work well,” said Ramos. “This is a historic opportunity to really make sure we can say how are we measuring government services that the pub servants who are here day in and day out, driven by their purpose, that that’s working for families across the state.”
Ramos’ career has been in education, and she came to the Secretary’s job from a stint in the governor’s office as first assistant deputy governor for education. She has also worked for Illinois Action for Children and Advance Illinois.
