Child Well-Being

Preventing child maltreatment and building healthier families through mental health and trauma-responsive services.

Content Warning: Abuse and neglect.

All children in Champaign County deserve to grow up in a supportive, loving home. This is critical if we wish for every child to achieve their full potential. The dual risks of child abuse and neglect and mental health issues threaten the well-being of children and can have significant negative long-term impacts.

Childhood Abuse and Neglect and other Adverse Childhood Experiences may cause high levels of chronic stress (i.e., toxic stress) that rewires the brain’s developing architecture (i.e., connections between cognitive, emotional, and social development). As a result, children who experience CAN and other ACEs are more likely to engage in risky behaviors in adolescence and have health problems as adults. These problems include alcohol abuse, depression, drug abuse (including opioids), eating disorders, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, suicide, violence towards others, and many chronic diseases.

- Centers for Disease Control, Division of Violence Prevention

Building Stronger Families

Child abuse and neglect is preventable. The United States Department of Health and Human Services defines six protective factors which lower the risk of child abuse and neglect:

Nurturing and attachment
Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
Parental resilience
Social connections
Concrete supports for parents
Social and emotional competence of children

United Way of Champaign County's Child Well-Being grants will strengthen these protective factors. It will take all of us, United, to build stronger families and reduce the risk of abuse and neglect in our community.

Research shows that parents and caregivers who have support—from family, friends, neighbors, and their communities—are more likely to provide safe and healthy homes for their children. When parents lack this support or feel isolated, they may be more likely to make poor decisions that can lead to neglect or abuse.

-United States Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau

Community Concern

United Way of Champaign County's Community Survey found Child Abuse and Neglect to be the top reported community issue overall. Mental health ranked third.

The Champaign Community Health Plan found Child Abuse and Neglect to be the second highest community concern. Mental Health was the top concern.

Rate of Local Children Experiencing Abuse and Neglect

The table below shows the number of indicated victims of abuse and neglect in Champaign County. "Indicated" means that credible evidence was found to substantiate a claim of abuse and neglect.

SOURCE

Year	Number	Rate	Statewide Average
2019	331	24.6/1000	19.1/1000
2020	426	31.6/1000	20.7/1000

Local Children in Substitute Care

436 Champaign County children are currently in Substitute care.

"Substitute care" means the care of children who require placement away from their families or private guardians. Substitute care includes foster family care, care provided in a relative home placement as defined in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301 (Placement and Visitation Services), Section 301.80 (Relative Home Placement), care provided in a group home, care provided in a maternity center or a child care, mental health or other institution, and care provided in an independent living arrangement. (Illinois Department of Children and Family Services)

This data is as of July 31, 2025 (Source)

Foster Care	Relative	Institutional or Group Home	Other
183	182	38	33

Recurring Maltreatment

Of all children who were victims of a substantiated maltreatment report during the fiscal year, this chart shows the percentage that were victims of another substantiated maltreatment report within 12 months.

SOURCE

Year	Children with Substantiated Report	Children with another Substantiated Report within 12 months	Rate
2021	781	124	15.9%
2022	622	112	18%
2023	693	97	14%
2024*	746	71	9.5%

*This year does not reflect a complete year of data.

Maltreatment of Children in Substitute Care by Zip

The table below shows the number of children in Substitute Care by zip code.

This data is as of July 31, 2025 (SOURCE)

Zip Code	Number of Children
61801	37
61802	100
61820	64
61821	69
61866	72

Mental Health

Behavioral Health issues continue to be an issue across the county. Lack of resources, funding, and stigma contribute to the issue.

Contributing Factors to Mental Health Issues

PTSD
Physical/Verbal Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Substance Abuse
Language Barriers
Trauma
Poor Medicaid Reimbursement
Lack of Social Support

Barriers to Mental Health Care in Champaign County

Lack of funding
Lack of support system
Availability and access to counseling and screening programs
Lack of Providers who take Medicaid
Participant Follow-up

Preventing maltreatment and providing trauma-informed care

United Way awards grants to local programs working to improve Child Well-Being across Champaign County. Each program is working towards at least one of the following Goals:

Fewer children ages 0-5 will experience maltreatment
Parents & caregivers will have increased access to supports that reduce stress and the risk of child maltreatment
Children and adults who have experienced trauma will have increased support available

Our Strategy

Our grant partnerships collaborate with each other to prevent maltreatment and provide the best care to those who have experienced harm. Our grant work is focused on building strong, resilient families and strengthening the six protective factors that are proven to reduce child abuse and neglect. Our grants and collaborations will provide:

Programming that is free or very low cost and meets families where they are; reducing historical, financial, and geographical barriers to services
Care and community support for children and adults in stressful situations
Target outreach to families residing in zip codes 61821 and 61802
Trauma-informed counseling and specialized, evidence-based therapies
Professional support for people who have experienced maltreatment or violence
Enhanced access to counseling or therapy services within trusted community organizations

Special Projects in Child Well-Being

Bottom Line Diaper Bank

Early Childhood Parent Education Community Calendar

Grant Partnerships

Comprehensive Mentoring

Provides one-to-one mentoring services to our most vulnerable youth to assist them in achieving their fullest potential. Professional Case Managers provide ongoing support to the mentor, child and family. Parents also receive ongoing support and referral resources to assist them with supportive services during the match relationship.

A program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois

Counseling Program

Provides professional, affordable individual, couples, and family counseling services to area residents suffering from mental, emotional, and relationship difficulties impacting their functioning in work, school, family or community life. Services are provided by Masters level therapists - and supervised by a licensed clinical social worker - who are committed to our strengths-based philosophy, making clients central to services, working with an interdisciplinary team, and verifying effective service delivery. Therapists use trauma-informed practice to collaboratively engage clients to tailor realistic alternatives and achievable solutions to their unique situations.

A program of Center for Youth and Family Solutions

Counseling Services

Provides trauma-focused, evidence-based counseling to victims of abuse.

A program of Champaign County Children's Advocacy Center

Healthy Beginnings

Long-term nurse home visiting service promoting healthy child development and addressing factors that contribute to child vulnerability. Parents are empowered to make informed choices and create nurturing environments for their children.

A program of Carle Health

Hope for the Future

Designs, implements, evaluates, and sustains a tiered, evidence-based system of programs and services that are trauma-informed, coordinated, culturally responsive, and people-centered. By supporting Black children and parents across three tiers (Parent Well-Being programming, Hope for Boys, Intensive Clinical Services), children and families are engaged and empowered through this program model that expands existing programs and focuses on outcomes of violence prevention, positive racial identity, trauma healing, and holistic services.

A program of DREAAM

HopeSprings Counseling Services

Offers counseling expertise to youth and families in our community who are experiencing a difficult life situation. 90-95% of the clients are Medicaid eligible/insured. Specialty therapies (EMDR, Theraplay, play therapy, Trauma Focused-CBT) are offered. HopeSprings maintains a strong emphasis on trauma-informed care with all clients, with a specialty with children.

A program of Cunningham Children's Home

Safe Children and Strong Families Programs

The Safe Children program provides emergency respite for children “at risk of harm” due to a family crisis. Through the provision of care, we facilitate parenting breaks when home situations are fragile, promote stress reduction, positive parenting, and minimize the risk of employment loss due to childcare emergencies. The Strong Families program provides family stabilization through individual and group support and education services, including home visiting, support groups, play groups, and parenting classes. Referrals to other services and resources are also provided.

Programs of Crisis Nursery

Therapy - Community Outreach & Group Services

Provides age-appropriate sexual violence education prevention programming to children in their school that is evidence-based and trauma-informed. The program also connects children with confidential staff who provide crisis intervention services and to facilitate connections with trusted adults and long-term support. The Community Outreach & Group Services therapist provides therapy services for clients at times and locations that are safe and accessible to them. The therapist also offers short-term stabilization therapy sessions to children who are on the agency's waiting list.

A program of Rape Advocacy, Counseling & Education Services (RACES)

Trauma & Mental Health Support Program

Provides access to needed clinical intervention for youth involved in DMBGC programming in partnership with Cunningham Children's Home HopeSprings and Families Stronger Together programs. This includes a Peer Mediation Program that provides the foundational knowledge and tools needed for youth to begin to engage with their peers as disruptors of negative behaviors and violence.

A program of Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

Youth and Family Programming

Provides support groups as well as individual one-off events and programs tailored to the interests and needs of clients and held throughout the year to serve certain segments of their youth and family population.

A program of The UP Center

All programs that are working in the defined area and meet the eligibility requirements were encouraged to apply.

This is a competitive application process. Not all applicants will be awarded a grant.

Grant awards will be announced publicly in January 2026.

Important Details

Grant Application Opens: September 5, 2025

Grant Application Closes: October 6, 2025 at 11:59 pm

Program Interviews: October 13-24 2025

Notification of Award: December 12, 2025

Grant Award Range: $10,000 - $75,000 per program

Eligibility Requirements

Grant activities must align with United Way of Champaign County's Child Well-Being Goals.

Grant recipients must measure at least one output from UWCC's list of metrics.

The applying organization must meet United Way of Champaign County's grant eligibility requirements.