SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Care homes for the intellectually and developmentally disabled across Illinois are suffering from worker shortages, with many lawmakers struggling to come up with solutions.

One area of improvement Illinois House Democrats are looking at is reducing the amount of requirements to work in these facilities. A bill they filed would reduce the age limit for workers in these care homes from 21 to 19. 

The Democrats hope this is just another step they can take to fix the worker shortage in Illinois.

"The staffing shortages in a lot of the facilities for our developmentally disabled residents," State Rep. Nicolle Grasse (D-Arlington Heights) said. "People have been unable to figure out how to fix it so I really support this."

This proposal passed out of the House Human Services Committee with bipartisan support. It now heads to the House floor where lawmakers could talk about it in the coming weeks.

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