Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System AFCARS The Administration for Children and Families

DFPS offers many resources for people who want to become foster parents, or who already have, or who want to foster as a first step towards adoption. Licensed caregivers are free to review (but not copy) the public side of your licensing case file. Contact the agency that licensed, approved, or certified your home for information about your foster home.

Community-Based Care

If the child’s needs would be best met by re-placement in your home, the county placing agency has the discretion to non gamstop casino do this. The county placing agency is responsible for identifying the permanent placement option and placing the child in that home as early as possible in the dependency process. There are times when a foster family and a foster child are not a good “fit” despite everyone’s best efforts. Prior to or at the time of placement, you have a Right To receive child information about difficult and problematic behaviors, including behaviors that may pose a risk to your family, unless a court says otherwise. The list should be submitted in writing to the county, and, if possible, the child’s attorney and/or the juvenile court, and request that placement and adoption assessment or home studies be done on the households listed.

Parents Involved with CPS

Kinship/Relative Placement – The home of a relative or family friend where a child is placed to live when parents are unable to provide for the child’s safety. If no one can be found, the court can give temporary legal custody to CPS, who then places the children in foster care (learn more). Giving a Child a Permanent Home – Choices for Relatives (PUB 344) – this pamphlet will explain some of the major differences among adoption, guardianship, and foster care and the choices a relative has when the relative child cannot return to live safely with his or her parent. Ask the assigned social worker, social worker’s supervisor, or child’s attorney to communicate this information to you as soon as possible after the court date. As part of the team supporting the foster child in your care, the county placing agency should make every effort to give you advance notice of meetings and conferences scheduled regarding the foster child in your care.

How do I find out which social worker is assigned to the foster child in my care? A foster home can be “on hold” as to placements as foster care placements are at the discretion of the county placing agency. You should immediately communicate to your foster child’s social worker your desire to have the sibling placed with you. I have a foster child placed in my home and would like the child’s sibling who is also in foster care placed together in my home – how can I make this happen?

Making the correct placement decision helps to minimize the trauma a child experiences during placement moves; ensures that the foster child is placed in the home best able to help and support the child; and reduces the risk of a subsequent placement change. Before a child is placed with my family, will I be told if there are issues relative to the child’s behavior that could jeopardize the health, safety and welfare of my family? If you have a concern about the disclosure of any of your personal information, you should discuss your concerns with the social worker at the time of placement. Will my family have to do something different because a foster child has been placed with our family? We are your child’s foster parents and we will remain in your child’s life only as long as your child needs us. CPS tries to accommodate the child and family’s wishes about religious training, within the limits of the caregiver’s situation, resources, and abilities.

• Giving a Child a Permanent Home – Choices for Relatives (PUB 344) – this pamphlet will explain some of the major differences among adoption, guardianship, and foster care and the choices a relative has when the relative child cannot return to live safely with his or her parent.
• Will I be told everything about the foster child’s birth family background – both at the time of placement and as new information is received by the county placing agency?
• However, future placements are still at the discretion of the county CCL regulation 89045(a).
• At the time of placement, caregivers should always verify with the social worker or social worker’s supervisor what Payment is available for the foster child and when the payments will start.

This will be discussed at the CPS Permanency Conference that you will be invited to attend during the fifth month that your child is in foster care. You, your caseworker, and the foster parents may be able to set up a schedule so you can visit regularly to talk about your child. A Family Group Conference is a meeting where families join with relatives, friends, the community, and CPS to develop a plan to ensure children are cared for and protected from future harm. If a judge decides that a child needs to be removed, the child may go into foster care. The law, developed through a partnership between Illinois DCFS and the ACLU of Illinois, took effect July 1, giving Illinois the ability to create separate standards for relatives to be certified to care for related children and youth in DCFS care. DCFS strives to reunite children with their birth families, and nearly half of all foster children are reunified with their families within 12 months.