Mitigation Strategies for Avoiding COVID-19 Resurgence Released, Expansion from 4 to 11 Regions for Tracking Disease Outbreaks
Today, Governor Pritzker released a mitigation plan to avoid a resurgence of COVID-19 infections like we are seeing in other states. The new plan also addresses concerns over the original plan’s use of 4 regions tracking infections in the state and instead will shift to the 11 EMS regions the state uses for all other health data. The Governor made clear that while the state currently has a lower infection rate than any of our neighboring states, increases in infections and a rising rate of infections is concerning and requires us to all do our part to prevent our state from moving back to Phase 3. Today’s news brought several disturbing trends to light with reports that dozens of students and parents had been infected in connection with sports camps and the revelation that the infection rate among youth aged 10-19 is the highest it has ever been since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Governor and Public Health Director Dr. Ezike shared specific metrics that could result in mitigation steps in any given region including sustained increases in 7-day average positivity rates, hospitalization rates, or 3 consecutive days of positivity rates above 8%. The plan outlines 3 phases of mitigation steps regions might take, including some that will be automatically applied in higher risk settings such as indoor dining, while a larger list of strategies related to things such as retail, fitness, salons or personal care that can be implemented if testing and contact tracing at the local level indicate.
City of Chicago COVID-19 Updates

The city has released a break down of infection rates by age and the largest increase in cases has been in the 18-29 range. The Mayor announced that if cases continue to increase, the City will roll back from Phase 4. Follow updates and numbers here .
New IDES Guidance for Applicants Experiencing Challenges

Since the beginning of the pandemic and stay at home order, our office and legislative offices statewide have seen an unprecedented number of requests for assistance with the Illinois Department of Employment Security as applicants experience challenges with the online application system and particularly with the phone system. The volume of applicants just since the stay at home order began is greater than at any time in our history, while at the same time the department was at its lowest headcount in years. Over the course of the last several months, the department has taken significant steps to address these challenges, including adding call center staff, creating an automated chat bot on the site, and utilizing an outside vendor for additional call center staff. Unfortunately, we continue to hear from hundreds of constituents who continue to experience issues in receiving their benefits and getting through to an IDES representative.

Throughout this crisis, our ability to assist with Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance has been limited due to federal rules around access to the data and systems, but we have done our best to ensure our constituents get the help they need. Unfortunately, as of last week, legislative offices have been informed that we are only to refer individual cases to the Department of Employment Security in extreme circumstances such as fraud and identity theft. All others should use the newly announced “call back” system rolled out this week and described below. A recent message shared with members of the Senate states that anyone who has used the new call back system who does not receive a call back within 3 days can also be referred, so if this describes your experience with the new system, please let us know immediately.

This new process has been the result of increased requests from individuals and in turn has resulted in increased pressure on the Department of Employment Security from legislative offices. Over the course of the last few months we have sent multiple letters to the administration to highlight some of the common issues individuals are experiencing and request a streamlined process for submitting individual cases and concerns. 

Rather than acknowledge the important role legislative offices consistently play in assisting constituents with access to state services, our most recent request for a clear process to address unemployment issues was met with accusations of seeking political favors . Having spent 4 years running a district office as staff and since taking office centering constituent services in our district office operations, I can not object strongly enough to this characterization. When a constituent reaches out to their legislator’s office, it’s almost always because they have fallen through every possible crack and feel as if their state government has failed them somehow. The people who come to us for help aren’t seeking special treatment, they’re looking for a lifeline and it’s our job to make sure they get it. I have always felt as if we were a critical backstop to the state agencies that provide these services and a healthy part of a well functioning state government. To use such language to describe efforts to get services to those most in need is completely counter to the team approach that this situation calls for.

Last week, IDES rolled out an automatic call back option where individuals can contact the claimant services center and request a call back. Individuals can only submit one request at a time and are placed in a queue in the order their request is received. The system apparently gives you an estimated wait time, but that has not shown to be very accurate in our limited experience with the constituents who have been using it. We have recently learned that it can take up to 3 business days to receive a call back from the 800-244-5631 claimant services number. If you do not receive a call back after 3 business days please feel free to reach back out to us as we are continuing to monitor the newly launched system. 

You will be called back Monday through Friday. Call back numbers and hours are as follows: 

  • Claimant Services Center- 7:30 AM -7:00 PM (800.244.5631) Most individuals need to speak to the claimant services department if they are having an issue certifying for benefits, have been locked out of their account or are trying to correct for missing payments. 

  • IllinoisJobLink.com 7:30 AM -7:00 PM (877.342.7533) This number is for those who need to register or are locked out of their jobs link account.

  • Benefit Payment Control and Employer Hotline- 8:30 AM-5:00 PM (800.247.4984) This number is for fraud and identity theft cases or for employers to contest an employees application for benefits. 

We will continue to update as the system and situation evolves and remain committed to helping our constituents in every way we can.
COVID-19 Count as of Wednesday July 15:
1,187 new COVID cases, 8 additional deaths


If you have questions related to COVID-19 you can contact the Illinois Department of Public Health :
Hotline : 800-889-3931
Email : dph.sick@illinois.gov

City of Chicago's Department of Public Health :
Hotline : 312-746-4835
Email : coronavirus@chicago.gov
Housing Malden Arms Apartments : Applications Open
Housing applications for Malden Arms Apartments, 4727 N. Malden St. in Uptown, Chicago will be opening on July 20th.

Interested individuals should follow the instructions on the flyer exactly. Pay special attention to the income requirements. Persons with zero income are not eligible to apply. For more information, please call Malden Arms Apts. directly:
(773) 649-5441 ask for Mary Harth or Brittany Hendricks.
Metra: $15.2 million contract for new Peterson Ridge Station approved by Board of Directors
The Metra Board of Directors approved a $15.2 million contract to build the new Peterson Ridge Station and parking facility on the Union Pacific North Line. Originally planned to fund the project with 2009 state bond programs, this funding was restored in recent state budgets. John Burns Construction Company of Orland Park was awarded the contract for the work involved.

Expected to start this fall and take 18 months to complete, the project will include:

  • Construction of two six-car platforms
  • A new pedestrian bridge over Peterson Avenue
  • Heated concrete stairs and ADA-compliant ramps
  • Glass and masonry warming house with side canopies and metal roof
  • Two shelters with on-demand heating
  • Access drive with a cul-de-sac turnaround and ADA pick-up/drop-off
  • Five ADA parking spaces and 44 pay parking spaces on Ravenswood Ave.
  • Bicycle parking
  • A plaza with associated landscaping and irrigation system
  • Reworked traffic signals for the station entrance
  • Rehabilitation of the existing bridge at Peterson and Ridge

Read the full release here .
Federal Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program Grants: Apply Now
The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority seeks information from community-based agencies in need of U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program grants to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds will be directed to areas that have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. The response is due July 24, 2020.

Click here to access materials.
Rogers Park Community Response Team:
 Looking for Volunteers
The Rogers Park Community Response Team is currently looking for volunteers to help in the following areas:
  • Hotline Operation (Spanish-speaking operators needed/se necesitan voluntarios que pueden hablar español)
  • Grocery Delivery (Drivers and logistics assistants needed)

To sign up as a volunteer, please visit https://rpcrt.org/join-our-team/ , or call 773-831-7668.

For more information about the Rogers Park Community Response Team, visit their website at https://rpcrt.org/ .

Please share this message with members of your community, so we can continue to gather volunteers. See more information in the flyers below.
Sincerely,

Kelly Cassidy
State Representative, 14th District

Office of State Representative Kelly Cassidy

5533 N Broadway

Chicago IL 60640
773-784-2002(phone)
773-784-2060(fax)