Joyce champions investments in public transportation

• Rebuild Illinois
• Kankakee County
• Grundy County
• Transportation

KANKAKEE – To help expand and improve public transportation, State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) announced more than $262,000 in state grants for Kankakee and Grundy Counties Friday.

“Public transportation is always worth improving, because it’s something that serves everyone in our community,” said Joyce. “It’s important that we address the deficiencies in our system so that we can keep up with the needs of our residents.”

Grant funds in Grundy County will be used to replace three medium-duty buses that are beyond their useful life. In Kankakee County, grant funds will be used to replace mobile radios in the county’s fleet to ensure the safest and most efficient provision of services in the area. In addition, the funds will be put towards a new transit vehicle.

This is the first of three grant cycles for mass transit projects through the Rebuild Illinois plan, with the next two rounds set to be distributed in 2021 and 2023.

“Transit in our downstate communities can be a lifeline for getting to work or school, a doctor’s appointment or a trip to the grocery store,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Omer Osman said. “This funding through Rebuild Illinois means these providers finally will have the resources they need to improve service in communities that have not seen this type of investment for many years.”

A complete list of local providers and awards can be viewed at https://idot.click/rbi-capital-plan-transit-grants.

Joyce encourages parents to enroll in new Chat2Learn text program to help prepare kids for kindergarten

• education
• ISBE
• Chat2Learn

PARK FOREST – The Illinois State Board of Education has launched a new text program to help parents prepare young learners for school, and State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) is encouraging parents to enroll.

“There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused parents pandemic stress, as they are balancing working from home and homeschooling their children,” Joyce said. “To help working parents cope, this program will encourage learning and ensure well-being for children during this crisis and beyond.”

The Chat2Learn program — spearheaded by ISBE and the Behavioral Insights and Parenting (BIP) Lab — will engage up to 50,000 parents and caregivers of preschool-aged children in Illinois Preschool for All and Preschool for All Expansion programs. Program administrators are encouraged to sign parents up on their behalf. However, parent enrollment will open at a later date.

The program provides parents with conversation prompts to help future students build literacy, mathematics and social-emotional skills for kindergarten readiness. The messages are based on research evidence collected by the BIP Lab.

For example, parents may receive prompts like: "Part of being a parent is getting to know your child better every day. Ask your child, 'If you had a day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?'"

Text messages begin on Dec. 6 and will continue through June 30, 2021.

For more information, visit https://biplab.uchicago.edu/.

Joyce secures temporary COVID-19 testing site in Kankakee, urges residents to get tested

• COVID-19
• Kankakee County
• Testing

KANKAKEE – State Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) announced the Illinois Department of Public Health will operate a temporary COVID-19 testing site now through Tuesday, Nov. 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day at the Kankakee County Health Department, located at 2390 W. Station Street in Kankakee.

“A critical part of overcoming this virus is getting tested,” Joyce said. “This site will allow us to ramp up our testing capacity in Kankakee County and help reduce the spread in our community. I urge folks to get tested.”

Anyone will be able to get tested at the site for free, regardless of symptoms. No appointment is necessary, but daily testing supplies are limited, so residents are encouraged to visit early.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.

However, people with COVID-19 can spread the virus before they start showing symptoms, and some individuals may be asymptomatic. For this reason, IDPH recommends testing for anyone who has recently been part of a large gathering or has been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

For more information about COVID-19 testing, visit http://www.dph.illinois.gov/testing.

Joyce, DeLuca to host mobile unit event in Chicago Heights

• Chicago Heights
• SOS