Our foster care professionals advocate for children and families across 200 foster homes in Southern Illinois to ensure the best temporary care is provided. During a foster child’s most challenging moments, our foster team and foster parents work together to build stability and a promise for brighter days ahead.
Foster Care
Homes where stability can be found.
Specialized Care
Specialized foster care provides services such as individualized care plans for youth with special needs in the following areas: mental, behavioral, medical, and developmental health. Foster parents receive individualized and group training to assist in the care of these children or youth.
If you’re a foster parent,
consider attending an upcoming foster care parent training.
Support Programs for Foster Children & Youth
Wraparound Services for Foster Families
The Wraparound Program works to keep youth out of foster or therapeutic residential care, stabilize foster care placements, and help youth achieve permanency.
Services are provided to youth and families served by DCFS in Madison and St. Clair (Illinois) counties. These services facilitate child and family teams and provide traditional and non-traditional support to youth and families.
Wraparound services include mentoring, budget planning, organizational skills, identifying local resources, and any services that help maintain a family’s mental well-being when involved in DCFS care.
Independent Living Opportunity
Independent Living Opportunity guides older adolescents as they transition from foster care to an independent lifestyle. Young people live in their own apartment and receive instruction on skills such as money management, housekeeping, and attaining educational or vocational goals. Youth who are parents also receive assistance to ensure their children receive proper care.
New Life Parenting Program
New Life Parenting Program serves youth in foster care who are pregnant or parenting. The goal of New Life is to assist youth in celebrating their child’s “new life” and develop goals to create the best possible “new life” for themselves and their child.
New Life focuses on working with youth to develop nurturing, effective, and safe parenting skills. This is accomplished by working alongside the youth, youth’s child, foster parents, service providers, and caseworkers to develop and work towards individual parenting goals.
Nearly 80%
of foster care youth are involved in at least one extracurricular activity.
Kyleisha’s Story
Kyleisha has been in and out of foster homes for most of her teen years. She doesn’t have a family to rely on, and she’s struggled to find a connection with others. When she began the Independent Living Opportunity program, she quickly made connections with our team members. She discovered constructive ways to manage her anger and learned how to be an independent, responsible woman. She currently lives on her own and works full-time while taking college classes. Her goal is to regain custody of her daughter and finish schooling to be a homicide detective.
Support our Families
Foster families across Illinois need your help. Donate to provide basic needs, counseling support, and wraparound services to a foster child.
Become a Foster Parent
Our team helps identify and train individuals and families to become successful foster parents or to start a “bridge” home for a youth who requires a foster home while awaiting their forever home.
Five Ways We Advocate for Our Youth
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Three Ways Foster Families Make Their Homes a Welcoming Space
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