State Sen. Pat McGuire issues correction on Sema'j letter

The office of state Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Crest Hill, recently issued a correction for a letter McGuire submitted to The Herald-News.

McGuire referred to 1-year-old Sema'j Crosby's death as a murder in error, according to a news release from the senator's office.

Below is the corrected version of the letter:

To the editor:

Lessons learned from the April 2017 death of Sema’j Crosby motivated recent General Assembly action to protect children. The Illinois Senate on May 17 passed House Bill 4885, of which I am the Senate chief sponsor.

This legislation makes children under five in families receiving Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) Intact Family Services automatically eligible for the state’s childcare program. HB 4885 also makes these children who are under age three eligible for Early Intervention, the state program to identify and address disabilities and developmental delays.

This legislation benefits families investigated by DCFS in three ways: children will receive quality childcare from trained professionals in approved settings; Children will receive treatment as necessary for behavior, movement and learning problems; parents will be able to devote their days to parenting classes, physical and behavioral health treatment and other supportive activities.

HB 4885 earlier passed the Illinois House. It now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.

Sincerely,

Pat McGuire

State senator, District 43