Thousands of Chicago families experiencing housing instability have been provided a financial lifeline by the Illinois Stability Investment for Family Housing (SIFH) program, where they are paid up to $6,500 if they are qualified households with children attending Chicago Public Schools. This groundbreaking program is among the biggest direct-cash programs that are trying to tackle school family housing instability in recent history.
The Illinois Housing Stability Program overview
The Illinois Department of Human Services launched the SIFH pilot program as a three-year, $13 million initiative to respond to the increasing crisis of housing instability for school-age children and families. The program operates in partnership with GiveDirectly, a non-profit organization, and the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab, which provides research and evaluation services.
The most recent version of the program, SIFH 3, had closed its window for application as of March 9, 2025, and had been open for applications from January 27 to that date. The lucky families receive either $6,500 or $500, with approximately 750 families receiving each. The program has already assisted more than 1,125 families since its inception in 2023.
Eligibility criteria for the $6,500 home grant
To be eligible for the SIFH program, families need to satisfy a number of particular requirements that identify those facing the worst housing needs:
- Residential status requirements: The families will either be literally homeless, such as living in emergency shelters, cars, or other areas not suited for human habitation, or will have one or more of their children placed in a program for homeless students, also referred to as McKinney-Vento or Students in Temporary Living Situations (STLS).
- School enrollment: At least one child who is 17 years or younger and enrolled in public schools of designated districts like Chicago Public Schools, Harvey School District 152, or East St. Louis School District 189 must be included in the family. The program also welcomes families living in qualified counties like Cook, Kane, Lake, Peoria, St. Clair, Will, and Sangamon.
- State assistance participation: There should be at least one family member who is receiving benefit under SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), State Food Assistance, or VTTC (Victims of Trafficking, Torture, and Other Serious Crimes)[4][2]. This condition ensures that the program targets those families already availing themselves of state support mechanisms.
- Eligibility requirements: For Chicago Public Schools families, the children needed to be enrolled in STLS by December 9, 2024, while their counterparts in other participating school districts outside of Chicago needed to have enrolled by September 30, 2024.
Program benefits and payment distribution
SIFH program provides free cash assistance, where the recipients can utilize the funds on any aspect of housing without stringent conditions or restrictions. This is far from traditional housing assistance programs that limit what funds can be spent on.
Target families are paid directly by the Illinois Department of Human Services either through direct deposit or the Illinois Link Card (EBT system). The payments are issued to the household head listed in the family’s current IDHS benefit records to facilitate seamless integration with existing state assistance programs.
The lottery system ensures fair distribution of limited funds, and the selected families receive notification of the selection around the end of the school year, in May 2025. Each participating winner receives the entire award amount by June 30, 2025, providing much-needed relief during the summer when housing costs continue to strain family budgets.
Addressing Chicago’s housing crisis
The SIFH initiative directly targets Chicago’s growing housing affordability crisis, which disproportionately affects school-age children families. New data show that the rent rate in Chicago rose 2% in May 2025 from a national rate of 0.4%, the second-fastest month-to-month rent growth among the nation’s top 100 cities.
Annual growth in rent in Chicago is 5%, placing the city fourth in the fastest growth of major U.S. cities. These increases have pushed thousands of families into housing instability, with the effects of spilling over to student academic achievement and family stability.
The program targets specifically families that have children in STLS programs within Chicago Public Schools and recognizes that housing instability is a significant hindrance to academic achievement. Students experiencing housing instability typically have challenges like excessive school transfers, mobility problems, and lack of quiet space to study that affect their performance.
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