The state of Illinois must provide funding for the Community Care Program for low-income seniors during the budget impasse, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The judge determined that the program, which helps over 86,000 senior citizens in Illinois live independently by providing them with in-home assistance, should be included as part of an active consent decree requiring that state services covered under Medicaid are funded during the budget stalemate.

Also on Wednesday, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said the state will start making payments to providers of Early Intervention services, which help families with young children with diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays.

Early Intervention services should have been covered under an active decree requiring that payments be made to providers during the budget impasse, but the comptroller's office recently learned that the services were "slipping through the cracks" of that requirement.

"I know the tremendous benefits that Early Intervention services can provide to our delayed and disabled infants and toddlers, and I was extremely concerned when I learned many providers would likely be suspending their vital therapeutic services at the end of this month," Munger said in a news release. "My office is working today to set up the accounts and we will immediately begin making payments to Early Intervention providers as soon as we receive vouchers from DHS so we can avoid further hardships."