Giving Compass' Take:

• Cassie Walker Burke at Chalkbeat discusses the recent closures of early childhood centers in Chicago and other parts of Illinois, and how the state may need to address the way they fund childcare. 

• Can donors help support funding mechanisms for early learning programs? 

• Read this article on a new center that tracks policies that impact early childhood education. 


Chicago’s Catholic Charities is shuttering three longtime early childhood centers at the end of this month, leaving 450 Southwest Side children and their families searching for care. Nearly 100 staffers soon will be out of jobs.

The closures in neighborhoods rich with immigrants and their families are another disruption to the city’s fragile network of early education centers. And they spotlight how difficult it can be for organizations — even experienced ones — to cobble together enough funding to sustain full-day care for young children from various private and government pipelines.

A spokeswoman from Catholic Charities said the organization typically made up for funding shortfalls with private dollars — but this year, a structural deficit meant it couldn’t make ends meet, prompting a difficult decision.

“This is so very hard on our families,” said Brigid Murphy, a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities, who said the centers relied on federal Head Start funding, state preschool funding, and a state program that supplements the cost of child care for low-income working families.

Read the full article about early learning in Illinois by Cassie Walker Burke at Chalkbeat.