Illinois Department of Human Rights

What Illinois Department of Human Rights does

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) is a state government agency established on December 6, 1979, when Governor James Thompson signed the Illinois Human Rights Act into law, consolidating three prior civil rights statutes into a single framework. The agency operates with exclusive statutory authority to investigate and pursue accountability for discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, financial credit, and education across Illinois, covering all protected classes under the Act including race, sex, disability, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Headquartered in Springfield with a Chicago helpline operation, IDHR delivers services through the dhr.illinois.gov website, the Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Helpline (877-236-7703) operated by The Chicago Lighthouse, and the Institute for Training and Development, which provides scheduled courses and group training on sexual harassment prevention, fair housing, and racism-free schools.

IDHR's service portfolio comprises four core operational tracks: a charge filing process for discrimination complaints; investigation services that determine whether substantial evidence of discrimination exists within a 300-day window; a voluntary mediation program for settlement-based resolution; and training plus guidance publishing for compliance audiences. Major guidance outputs include the Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications Guide (developed in 2018 with Access Living and HUD funding) and the December 2021 non-regulatory guidance on protections for transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming students. The agency is governed by the State of Illinois under the executive branch, with oversight from the Governor and Illinois General Assembly, and partners with the Illinois Human Rights Commission, a separate adjudicatory body that conducts public hearings on investigated cases.

IDHR is funded entirely through Illinois state budget appropriations rather than commercial revenue, and provides all services free of charge to residents, employees, employers, housing providers, and educational institutions. The go-to-market model is compliance-mandated rather than sales-led, with constituents reached via the website, helpline, multilingual Know Your Rights publications, and PSAs distributed in English and Spanish. No headcount, budget figure, or headcount-per-function benchmark is disclosed in the available data.

Name

Illinois Department of Human Rights

Legal name

Illinois Department of Human Rights

Website

https://dhr.illinois.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Illinois Department of Human Rights is a state government agency that investigates and enforces discrimination complaints under the Illinois Human Rights Act across employment, housing, public accommodations, financial credit, and education, serving Illinois residents, employers, housing providers, and schools free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Springfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. State Government Appropriations: As a state government agency, IDHR is funded entirely through Illinois state budget appropriations rather than revenue generated from services. All charge filings, investigations, and training programs are provided free of charge to Illinois residents and businesses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IDHR is a state government agency that administers and enforces the Illinois Human Rights Act by investigating discrimination charges in employment, housing, public accommodations, financial credit, and education; providing mediation services to resolve charges; operating a Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Helpline; and offering free training and compliance guidance to individuals, employers, housing providers, and educational institutions throughout Illinois.

Product overview

The Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) is a state government agency that administers the Illinois Human Rights Act. Rather than a commercial product company, IDHR provides government services including: the Charge Filing Process for filing discrimination complaints, Investigation Services to examine alleged violations, a Mediation Program for voluntary dispute resolution, and the Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Helpline for reporting and referral support. IDHR also operates a Training Institute offering Sexual Harassment Prevention Training, Racism-Free Schools Training, and Fair Housing Training programs. Additionally, IDHR publishes guidance documents including the Transgender Student Protection Guidance and the Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications Guide for housing professionals. These services work together to enforce civil rights protections across employment, housing, public accommodations, financial credit, and education in Illinois.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Charge Filing Process
• Investigation Services
• Mediation Program
• Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Helpline
• Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
• Racism-Free Schools Training
• Fair Housing Training
• Transgender Student Protection Guidance
• Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications Guide

Quantifiable outcome

• IDHR investigates discrimination complaints within 300 days of filing and may attempt mediation or settlement before proceeding to hearing.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Access LivingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018IDHR partnered with Access Living, a Chicago-based disability advocacy organization, to develop the Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications: A Guide for Housing Professionals. This comprehensive guidebook provides legal guidance to housing professionals on reasonable accommodations and modifications for residents with disabilities.
• The Chicago LighthousecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018The Chicago Lighthouse answers calls to the Illinois Sexual Harassment & Discrimination Helpline pursuant to a contract with IDHR. The helpline (877-236-7703) provides assistance with reporting sexual harassment and discrimination and referrals to legal and counseling resources.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD): Massachusetts' state civil rights enforcement body investigating discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and education under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 151B—a structurally and functionally analogous peer to IDHR.
• Michigan Department of Civil Rights: Michigan's cabinet-level civil rights department that investigates discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, and law enforcement—directly comparable to IDHR's broad civil rights mandate.
• Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC): Ohio's state civil rights enforcement agency investigating discrimination complaints in employment, housing, public accommodations, and disability access—comparable in mandate scope and statewide service delivery to IDHR.
• New York State Division of Human Rights: New York's statewide agency enforcing the Human Rights Law across employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit, with authority to investigate, mediate, and adjudicate discrimination charges—directly comparable to IDHR's mandate and operational model.
• California Civil Rights Department (CRD): California's state-level civil rights enforcement agency (formerly DFEH), which investigates discrimination complaints in employment, housing, and public accommodations under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act—the closest direct functional peer to IDHR at a similar scale of operation.
• Illinois Human Rights Commission: The Illinois state-level adjudicatory body that conducts public hearings on discrimination cases investigated by IDHR—structurally inseparable from IDHR's enforcement workflow and therefore a tightly coupled peer.
• Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC): Pennsylvania's state agency enforcing the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act across employment, housing, education, and public accommodations, with parallel investigative and adjudicative functions similar to IDHR's structure.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division: Federal division enforcing civil rights laws in education, housing, employment, voting, and disability access; broader scope but overlapping jurisdiction with IDHR, particularly on education and disability discrimination matters.
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): The federal agency enforcing employment discrimination laws nationally; IDHR's employment-discrimination investigations directly interface with the EEOC through worksharing agreements, making EEOC the broad incumbent peer for IDHR's employment portion.
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity: Federal housing discrimination enforcement body and a documented IDHR partner via Cooperative Agreement; analogous to IDHR's housing rights enforcement function at a broader federal jurisdictional scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/illinoisdhr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Illinois Department of Human Rights