Parents plan to rally in support of state children’s service in Collinsville

Local parents will rally in support of Early Intervention Services, an offshoot of a state agency whose funding is in jeopardy because Illinois still does not have a budget.

The group will gather at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Woodland Park in Collinsville.

Early Intervention programs help children birth to age 3 close developmental gaps and reach milestones. But some of the Children and Family Connections offices that provide the services have closed because they ran out of money. Illinois still has no state budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.

The rally will support Children and Family Connections 21, the Department of Human Services’ office located at 4 Eagle Center in O’Fallon that covers St. Clair, Madison and Randolph counties.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Parents plan to rally in support of state children’s service in Collinsville."