Government Relations

Lurie Children's has always valued the open dialogue with leaders in Chicago, Springfield and Washington, D.C. With their partnership, we have had the privilege of helping to influence public policy on matters affecting children's health and well-being. We are grateful to our elected and appointed officials and community partners for their shared commitment to improving the lives of children.

As Illinois' largest provider of pediatric Medicaid services and the only hospital that cares for children from every county and legislative district in Illinois, we pledge to remain good stewards of their trust in our care. Learn more about our service for children insured by Medicaid.

We're working with the government to better children's health and well-being in numerous ways. Learn how you can help​.

The Collaborative For Children's Health Policy


Lurie Children's is proud to join alongside the following local organizations as founding partners of The Collaborative for Children's Health Policy

We believe we can work together to remove the real barriers that prevent sustaining progress and attention on critical child health policies in Illinois, including changing administrations, budget challenges and the lack of vote or voice by children. Through effective collaboration, we are dedicated to making Illinois children's health a priority. 

The Mission 

The Collaborative for Children's Health Policy transforms child and adolescent health and wellbeing in Illinois by partnering to advance policies and investments that will achieve health equity for youth, families and communities. 

Click here to view our policy agenda. 

The Collaborative for Children’s Health Policy is not a Covered Entity as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or  promulgated rules found at 45 CFR 160.103.

In the News 

Contact Us 

Visit us www.collaborative4childrenshealth.org at to learn about our policy initiatives and how to get involved!

Please contact Antonette Rabor, Program Coordinator at arabor@luriechildrens.org for more information or questions.  

Lurie Children’s “Website Terms and Conditions of Use,” including Lurie Children’s policy on links to Third Party websites, can be found here

Children's Health Caucus

A bipartisan group of Illinois legislators from the House and Senate have come together to form a Children's Health Caucus within the general assembly. 

The Illinois Legislative Children's Health Caucus will review: 

  • Early childhood development 
  • Physical, social and emotional health and well-being of Illinois children and adolescents 
  • Evidence-based policies and programs to achieve health equity for children, families and communities throughout the state

Investments in child and adolescent health support the long-term economic and social well-being of Illinois. The caucus is guided by the belief that: 

  • Every Illinois child should receive meaningful, timely, equitable access to appropriate high value, quality health care with the State working to reduce health disparities. 
  • Every Illinois child should be protected from injury, abuse, neglect and crime. 
  • Poor child health is often attributable to provery and other social determinants of health such as racism, education, recreational opportunities and circumstances. 
  • Unaddressed childhood health issues can have negative implications across a person's lifespan. 

The caucus will be staffed by the newly formed Collaborative for Children's Health Policy. Current co-chairs include: 


Julie Morrison- Senate Democratic, 29th District


Dale Fowler- Senate Republican, 59th District


Camille Lilly- House Democratic, 78th District


Kevin Schmidt- House Republican, 114th District

Access to Specialty Care for Children on Medicaid

On April 24, the Children’s Health Caucus convened its first meeting. The lawmakers in attendance learned about the challenges Illinois children face in gaining access to child-focused specialty care such as pediatric mental health providers, pediatric dentists, pediatric occupational therapists, neurologists and surgeons. The Collaborative for Children’s Health Policy presented an important brief for the Children’s Health Caucus entitled, Access to Specialty Care for Children on Medicaid.

Download the full PDF of the brief

Download the Executive Summary of the brief