Illinois Preschool For All (PFA) & Expansion (PFAE)

[hua7450]

Summary

Fixes #6776 (PFA)
Fixes #6777 (PFAE)

Implements the Illinois Preschool For All (PFA) and Preschool For All Expansion (PFAE) programs, administered by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).

Regulatory Authority

• ISBE Preschool For All Overview
• ISBE PDG Enrollment Form (Weighted Eligibility)
• ISBE Household and Income Form (69-72)
• 23 IAC § 235.10 - Definitions
• 105 ILCS 5/2-3.71(a)(4.5) - Preschool for All Children (4x poverty guidelines)
• 105 ILCS 5/10-20.12 - Kindergarten enrollment age (age 5 by Sept 1)
• Gov. Pritzker Smart Start FY2024 Press Release
• Gov. Pritzker Smart Start FY2025 Press Release

Program Overview

Aspect	PFA	PFAE
Hours	Part-day: 2.5 hrs/day	Full-day: 5+ hrs/day
Meals	Snack only	Breakfast + Lunch + Snack
Funding/Child (FY2024)	$3,900	$8,500
Funding/Child (FY2025)	$3,900	$8,500
Services	Basic preschool	Comprehensive + family support

Note: PFA and PFAE share identical eligibility criteria. A child receives one or the other based on local program availability, not both simultaneously.

PFAE Eligibility Model

Based on the ISBE PDG Enrollment Form, PFAE uses a weighted point system:

Basic Eligibility

• Age 3-5 years (before kindergarten per 105 ILCS 5/10-20.12)
• Family income ≤ 400% FPL (per 105 ILCS 5/2-3.71(a)(4.5))

Highest Priority Factors (50 points each)

If a child has any one of these factors, they are directly enrolled in PFAE:

#	Factor	Variable
1	Homeless (McKinney-Vento)	is_homeless
2	Child welfare involvement (foster care)	is_in_foster_care
3	Has IEP or referred for special education	has_individualized_education_program
4	Family income ≤ 50% FPL and/or receiving TANF	il_pfae_is_deep_poverty or il_tanf > 0

Secondary Priority Factors (25 points each)

Children with 2+ of these factors qualify for PFAE:

#	Factor	Variable
5	Family income ≤ 100% FPL	il_pfae_is_low_income
6	Parent didn't complete high school	parent_has_less_than_high_school_education (Household)
7	Teen parent at birth of first child (under 20)	il_isbe_was_teen_parent_at_first_birth (SPMUnit)
8	Child/parent born outside US	is_born_outside_us
9	Non-English speaking home	is_non_english_speaking_home (Household)
10	Active Duty Military family	military_basic_pay > 0
11	Developmental delays (without IEP)	has_developmental_delay
12	Never attended formal early learning	has_no_prior_formal_early_learning

Eligibility Formula

PFAE Eligible = Basic Eligible AND (any highest priority factor OR 2+ secondary priority factors)

Where:
  Basic Eligible = Age 3-5 AND Income ≤ 400% FPL

Income Definition

Per ISBE Form 69-72, countable income includes:

• Earnings from work (gross, before deductions)
• Child support, alimony
• Pensions, retirement, Social Security
• Workers' comp, unemployment, SSI, VA benefits, disability

Excluded: SNAP, FDPIR, WIC, TANF, federal education benefits, foster payments

Benefit Amounts

Program	FY2024	FY2025	Source
PFA	$3,900	$3,900	Smart Start Press Releases
PFAE	$8,500	$8,500	Smart Start Press Releases

Calculations:

• PFA FY2024: $20.99M ÷ 5,383 children = $3,900
• PFA FY2025: $15.63M ÷ 4,008 children = $3,900
• PFAE FY2024: $4.28M ÷ 503 children = $8,500
• PFAE FY2025: $9.70M ÷ 1,142 children = $8,500

New Variables

IL ISBE Shared Variables

Variable	Entity	Description
il_isbe_countable_income	SPMUnit	ISBE countable income for eligibility
il_isbe_income_eligible	Person	Income ≤ 400% FPL eligibility
il_isbe_was_teen_parent_at_first_birth	SPMUnit	Parent was under 20 at birth of first child

Demographic Input Variables

Variable	Entity	Description
is_born_outside_us	Person	Person was born outside the United States
has_no_prior_formal_early_learning	Person	Child has NOT attended formal early learning program
has_individualized_education_program	Person	Has Individualized Education Program (IEP)
has_developmental_delay	Person	Has screening-indicated developmental delay
is_non_english_speaking_home	Household	Household primary language is not English
parent_has_less_than_high_school_education	Household	Parent didn't complete high school

PFA Variables

Variable	Description
il_pfa	PFA benefit amount
il_pfa_eligible	PFA eligibility (mirrors PFAE)

PFAE Eligibility Variables

Variable	Description
il_pfae_eligible	Main PFAE eligibility determination
il_pfae_basic_eligible	Age and income eligibility combined
il_pfae_age_eligible_child	Age 3-5 eligibility

PFAE Priority Variables

Variable	Description
il_pfae_has_highest_priority_factor	Has any 50-point factor
il_pfae_secondary_priority_factor_count	Count of 25-point factors
il_pfae_is_deep_poverty	Income ≤ 50% FPL
il_pfae_is_low_income	Income ≤ 100% FPL

PFAE Benefit Variables

Variable	Description
il_pfae	PFAE benefit amount

Parameters

Parameter Path	Value	Description
gov.states.il.isbe.income.income_limit_rate	4.0	400% FPL max income
gov.states.il.isbe.income.countable_sources	list	Income sources for ISBE programs
gov.states.il.isbe.pfa.benefit.amount	$3,900	PFA per-child funding (FY2024+)
gov.states.il.isbe.pfae.benefit.amount	$8,500	PFAE per-child funding (FY2024+)
gov.states.il.isbe.pfae.eligibility.age_range	3-5	Eligible age range
gov.states.il.isbe.pfae.eligibility.income.deep_poverty_rate	0.5	50% FPL (highest priority)
gov.states.il.isbe.pfae.eligibility.income.low_income_rate	1.0	100% FPL (secondary priority)
gov.states.il.isbe.age_threshold.teen_parent	20	Age threshold for teen parent factor

Test Coverage

• Unit tests for each eligibility variable
• Integration tests with realistic family scenarios
• Priority factor tests for highest and secondary factors
• 47 total test cases

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (0ef8eeb) to head (b0e1680).
⚠️ Report is 124 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@             Coverage Diff             @@
##             main     #6982      +/-   ##
===========================================
+ Coverage   91.89%   100.00%   +8.10%     
===========================================
  Files           5        19      +14     
  Lines         148       222      +74     
  Branches       14         0      -14     
===========================================
+ Hits          136       222      +86     
+ Misses         12         0      -12     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	100.00% <100.00%> (+8.10%)	⬆️

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[PavelMakarchuk]

PR Review: Illinois Preschool For All (PFA) & Expansion (PFAE)

✅ Overall Assessment: APPROVE

This is a well-structured education program implementation with a sophisticated weighted point eligibility system. All CI checks pass. The implementation correctly models the ISBE enrollment form's priority factor system.

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🟢 Strengths

Implementation Quality:

• Excellent modeling of the weighted eligibility system (50-point highest priority vs 25-point secondary factors)
• All policy values properly parameterized (400% FPL, age range, benefit amounts)
• Correct entity hierarchy usage (Person, SPMUnit, Household)
• Proper vectorization patterns throughout
• Good use of adds attribute for income sources and benefit amounts
• Clear documentation of the two-tier priority system

Reference Quality:

• Core statutory reference (105 ILCS 5/2-3.71) verified for 400% FPL income limit
• Age eligibility properly supported by 23 IAC 235.10 and kindergarten statute
• Teen parent threshold appropriately cross-referenced to IDHS program

Test Coverage:

• 47 test cases as documented
• Good coverage of age boundaries (2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years)
• Developmental delay WITH vs WITHOUT IEP properly tested
• Multiple secondary factor combinations tested

New Input Variables:

• Useful new demographic variables (is_born_outside_us, has_individualized_education_program, etc.) that can be reused by other programs

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🟡 Should Address

1. Hard-Coded Policy Threshold

File: il_pfae_eligible.py:28

return basic_eligible & (has_highest_priority | (secondary_count >= 2))

The >= 2 is a policy value from the ISBE enrollment form. Consider creating a parameter:

# gov/states/il/isbe/pfae/eligibility/required_secondary_factor_count.yaml
values:
  2024-01-01: 2

This allows for policy analysis if the threshold changes.

2. Missing Critical Edge Case Test

Issue: No test verifies that exactly 1 secondary factor is INELIGIBLE.

The eligibility logic requires 2+ secondary factors, but there's no test confirming this boundary:

- name: Ineligible - basic eligible but only 1 secondary factor
  period: 2024
  input:
    state_code: IL
    age: 4
    is_born_outside_us: true  # Only 1 secondary factor
    employment_income: 50_000  # Above 100% FPL
  output:
    il_pfae_secondary_priority_factor_count: 1
    il_pfae_eligible: false

3. Missing Unit Test Files

The following variables only have integration test coverage:

• il_pfa.py (benefit amount)
• il_pfae.py (benefit amount)
• il_pfa_eligible.py
• il_isbe_countable_income.py

Consider adding dedicated unit tests.

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🟢 Suggestions (Optional)

1. Highest Priority Factor Test Gaps

The il_pfae_has_highest_priority_factor tests cover IEP, foster care, and deep poverty. Consider adding:

• Homeless (McKinney-Vento) - not tested
• Receives TANF (il_tanf > 0) - not tested

2. Income Boundary Tests

All three FPL thresholds (400%, 100%, 50%) lack exact boundary tests. Consider adding tests at exactly the threshold values.

3. Benefit Amount Derivation

The $3,900 and $8,500 per-child amounts are calculated from total funding / enrolled children. The reference titles document this calculation, which is good. Consider adding a code comment noting these are derived values, not statutory rates.

4. FY2024 Press Release Link

The illinois.gov FY2024 press release URL may be returning an empty template. Verify accessibility or find an archived version.

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📊 Validation Summary

Check	Result
CI Status	✅ All checks pass
Hard-coded Values	🟡 One threshold (>= 2)
Reference Quality	✅ Core statutes verified
Vectorization	✅ Correct patterns
Entity/Period Usage	✅ Correct
Test Coverage	🟡 Good, minor gaps

---

📝 Notes

Program Structure (Well Documented):

• Basic eligibility: Age 3-5 AND income ≤ 400% FPL
• Highest Priority (50 pts): homeless, foster care, IEP, deep poverty/TANF → automatic enrollment
• Secondary Priority (25 pts): 8 factors including low income, teen parent, immigrant, military
• Need 2+ secondary factors OR 1+ highest priority to qualify

Known Simplification (Documented):
The age eligibility includes all 5-year-olds as a simplification since PolicyEngine doesn't track birth month. The code comments explain this appropriately.

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Verdict: APPROVE - Ready for merge. The suggestions above would strengthen the implementation but are not blocking.

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