University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign

FAQs

Here you will find answers to some of the most common questions encountered by IECAM staff.

What is an asset map?

An asset map provides an inventory of the resources of a community to help identify strengths and challenges. Asset maps help stakeholders design and coordinate approaches to address their area’s unique needs.

Does IECAM have enrollment data?

The Data Hub presents monthly enrollment data on the number of children participating in early childhood programs, starting with Early Intervention (EI) and the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). 

The Data Hub has enrollment data for these two programs dating back to July 2018. New monthly enrollment data for these programs will be added to the Data Hub on a three-month delay to allow programs time to reconcile their data.

The Data Hub also allows users to find the number of children enrolled in the two programs by individual ages and by race/ethnicity as well as by home language (English, Spanish, other) for early intervention.

What is the Data Hub?

The IECAM Data Hub is a new interactive data tool that provides a variety of early childhood data in maps and charts. To learn more, visit the Data Hub’s About page. Eventually the Data Hub will replace the IECAM database, which has been IECAM’s primary way to present data since its inception. 
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What are IECAM's data sources?

Data on IECAM come from a variety of sources including state agencies such as the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois State Board of Education as well as the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and IPUMS USA. In short, IECAM brings together early childhood and related demographic data collected by other agencies.

How do I find the sources of the data on IECAM?

For data on IECAM, sources are listed in our data description pages. Data sources can also be found on specific curated maps, charts, and data pages and tools, in the “notes” sections of select spreadsheets, and on feature maps and charts. If you need assistance locating a data source, let us know. 

What data is available on IECAM and how often is that data updated?

IECAM demographic and service data are updated on a yearly basis at various times during the year depending on the data source.

I have noticed that some topics are not found on the Data Hub. What additional types of data are available?

IECAM presents some data outside the Data Hub. This data can be found using the following links:

Do geographic regions change over time?

Yes! While state and county borders do not change, every year there are a number of municipalities, townships, and school districts that are created, eliminated, merged, or split, or that change their name. And every 10 years, the district maps change for the state legislature and U.S. Congress as well as for zip codes (ZCTAs).

In the online database, search results present data for whatever areas exist, and only the areas that exist, in a selected year. Therefore, if you’re searching by municipality for 2020 and a municipality was incorporated only in 2021, you will not find that municipality in the 2020 data search. 

Where can I find data on Chicago's early care and education programs?

On the Data Hub, enrollment data, eligibility and demographic estimates, and early childhood program data are available for the city through a Birth to Five Illinois region search for Area I-A, Chicago. Program data and eligibility and demographic estimates also are available for Chicago community areas. Enrollment data are not yet available for Chicago community areas.

For more detailed information, we recommend checking out "Chicago Community Area Profiles" found on the Illinois Action for Children website linked below.

Are poverty estimates on the Data Hub cumulative? Or, does each figure represent a unique set?

The poverty data are cumulative. The column headings read 0–100% Federal Poverty Level (FPL), 0–200% Federal Poverty Level (FPL), etc.

Does IECAM provide funding stream information for early care and education services in Illinois?

At present, IECAM does not include funding amounts for early care and education services in Illinois. For more information, please see the links below: 

Does IECAM provide notes regarding unusual year-to-year drops in capacity numbers?

No, IECAM generally lets the data speak for itself. This allows the user the freedom to ask questions and consider multiple explanations for changes.

Why doesn't IECAM have data for the current year?

IECAM works closely with state agencies to update early care and education data. Generally, IECAM requests data near the end of the year (after the school year is completed) and updates its data as the information is received and processed. For example, when state agencies submitted data for the 2021-2022 school year, the IECAM team processed and then updated most of its data by early 2023. For demographic data, the Census Bureau releases its final and complete data for a given year between one and two years (depending on the geographic region) after the target year. For example, 2023 demographic data appeared in the spring of 2025.

What is the difference between funded capacity and actual capacity?

In general, IECAM reports the number of children that any given program or service is funded to serve, not how many children are actually served. The terminology for this varies from “proposed capacity” for Preschool for All and Prevention Initiative data, “proposed capacity” or “licensed capacity” for most child care data, to “funded enrollment” for Head Start programs. 

There are a few exceptions, such as PFA data for Chicago, which report actual enrollment numbers. Data for IDHS home visiting programs (State Home Visiting and MCHV) are the total number of children served.