Birth to Five Illinois Expands Early Childhood Resources Across Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside Counties

July 16, 2025

Original coverage in 102.3 The Coyote and 93.5 Superhits.

Birth to Five Illinois Region 47, serving Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside counties, has launched several new tools to support early childhood development, including the OWL Early Childhood Resource Hub and a regional childcare toolkit. Since 2022, the regional team has worked with families and community partners to identify needs, raise awareness, and improve access to services for children from birth to age eight. The OWL Hub, available online and on Facebook, centralizes local resources for parents and providers, while the toolkit is being shared with chambers of commerce to better connect families and employers to childcare options.

Abby Hoskins, Regional Council Manager for Birth to Five Illinois said they try to be inclusive to everyone.

“So the goal is that this works for all families. Any families, it’s going to target that age range of zero to eight. So for our older kids, they might want to look into different resources that most likely the regional office of education can help them with as well. But the OWL site is going to be very specific to that eight and under population, and focusing on early childhood for them.”

The organization is also working to expand parent participation and mental health support in the region.