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SUMMARY OF PROGRAM Provide the vision and mission of the State E&T program. In addition, describe how your State agency's E&T program meets the purpose of E&T which is to: Increase the ability of SNAP participants to obtain regular employment Meet State or local workforce needs The Illinois Department of Human Services is a State agency devoted to improving the lives of Illinois' most vulnerable populations. Our Mission is building up families and individuals to help fully realize their contribution to society. The objective of the SNAP Employment & Training program is to afford everyone we serve the opportunity to enhance their skills and education with the goal of doing meaningful work. It is our goal to creating pathways to family prosperity, health, and well-being and by assisting customers to access Employment & Training opportunities. Illinois’s SNAP Employment & Training program is focused on helping customers gain work skills, experience, earn credentials and find employment. Participants may be voluntarily enrolled in Non-Education, Non-Work Components (Supervised Job Search, Job Search Training, Job Retention and Workfare), Educational Components (Basic Education, Vocational Training, English Language Acquisition, and Work Readiness Training, and Work Experience components (Internship, On-the-Job-Training, Transitional Jobs ), or a combination of these activities designed to help a customer increase their skills, employability and begin a career-path leading to self-sufficiency. Our program’s goal is to offer skills growth to build people up to improve their possibly of attaining a job and earning better pay in order to better support themselves and their families. Community Based Organizations (CBOs) recruit, orient, assess, refer, and deliver to eligible individuals, education and training programs which are best suited for their experience and interests. CBOs will also recruit employers to provide suitable work sites and employment opportunities for participants. CBOs and IDHS staff will provide case management and supportive services to participants along with at least one component, to overcome barriers to employment and maximize self-sufficiency. CBOs may design and implement their own programs using any of the available components with what works for their target customers and for their unique region or community. Providers may not offer any wage subsidies for any program components with SNAP E&T funds at this time. IDHS’s CBO partners are to place at least 50% of hired customers into jobs within industry growth sectors. This is one of the performance metrics outlined in providers’ contracts. To determine growth sectors relevant to a particular geographic area, each service provider is encouraged to coordinate with their Local Workforce Investment Area (LWIA), other workforce agencies or employers to gather labor market data and identify local/regional high-growth sectors/industries. Employment and training activities are encouraged to be focused on those industries as well. Is the State’s E&T program administered at the State or county level? State County Provide the web addresses (URLs) of State E&T policy resources used such as handbooks and State administrative code, if available. Enter a single URL per row. 1/28/26, 11:56 AM State Plan IL FY26 - Original Submission https://dam-fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/microsite/snapet-ilfy26stateplan//index.html 3/268