features
Update: SNAP Policy Deadlines, Eligibility Changes, and Local Responses
Chicagoans who rely on SNAP may be hearing mixed messages about benefit disruptions and upcoming rule changes. Here’s what’s actually happening — and what to watch for in the months ahead. While federal SNAP benefit distributions have faced disruptions in recent months, any benefits that have already been issued can still be used. WIC benefits…
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Looking for Mental Health Care Without Private Insurance? Here’s Where to Go
Community mental health services are widely known in Chicago, but access becomes far less clear outside city limits—particularly for people without private, employer-sponsored insurance. While a network of nonprofit providers offers low-cost or free care, availability varies sharply by geography, funding, and transportation. In Chicago, care is readily available: organizations like Thresholds, Trilogy, Center on…
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Are CPS staff layoffs promoting equity in schools?
In July, CPS claimed the mass layoff of special education staff was an equity-driven reset, and not a means to address the $734M education budget shortfall. CPS officials told The Chicago Reporter the city aimed to redistribute Special Education Classroom Assistants (SECAs) to higher-need schools on the South and West sides. Six months later, a…
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Employment and labor
IDOC’s controversial health care provider is out. Will people in IDOC finally receive the care they need?
After decades of protest from activists, change is coming to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) health care system. A June 23rd memo announced that the IDOC is abandoning contract negotiations with Wexford Health Sources, who had won a ten year, $4 billion dollar contract renewal at the end of 2023. Now as IDOC initiates…
Economic Development
Tip and Wage Theft Still Prevalent in Chicago Restaurant Industry Despite New Ordinance
Chicago’s City Council passed a new ordinance intended to guarantee living wages for service industry workers, but experts believe that more strict legislation is needed to safeguard against employer fraud. The Chicago One Fair Wage ordinance, passed in October, will phase out Chicago’s subminimum wages for tipped workers over a five-year period, impacting restaurants in…