Offers help for families to adopt American children, both with and without unique challenges. The children assisted are not only from Illinois, but they can also reside anywhere in the United States. OCH works with other agencies to assist with the matching process and to assess the needs of the child to determine whether the child and family make an appropriate match.

Traditional Foster Care for children ages 0-18 whose families are unable or unwilling to meet the minimum standards of parents as defined by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

Specialized Foster Care provides intensive services to behaviorally challenged children ages 3-18. Relative Foster Care allows children who need to be placed out of their home to be placed with relatives.

Aftercare Program is specially designed to assist children and their families upon their return home from living with a foster family.

Other services include foster parent recruitment, adoption conversions.

Where it is in a child's best interest, the Department of Children and Family Services and the courts may place a foster child in the home of a willing and able relative who is not yet licensed as a foster home. The Department of Children and Family Services always attempts to locate a relative for foster care placement.

Provides foster care programs designed to find safe, secure, and nurturing homes for children who cannot live with their families.

Services offered:
- Licensing, training, and becoming a foster parent.
- Stable foster placements for children and adolescents.
- Specialized care plans for youth with special needs (mental, behavioral, medical, and developmental).
- Independent living opportunity for older adolescents to transition from foster care to an independent lifestyle.
- Finding permanent solutions for children in foster care (returning to biological parents, kinship/guardianship, and adoption).

Assists individuals in Illinois in becoming licensed foster parents. Also provides follow-up training for foster parents to help meet the various needs of their foster children.

Services provided:

-- LCFS team provides guidance and support through the foster care experience.

-- Health insurance for the children placed in a foster home.

-- Therapy, counseling, and academic counseling, and special education services when needed.

-- Training programs, support groups, and newsletters geared to foster families.

-- Monthly financial support for the foster child(ren's) basic needs, including food, clothing, and housing costs.

-- Funding for daycare, after-school care, and extracurricular activities including sports and art programs for eligible children in foster care.

Provides placement and casework services for children who have been removed from their birth families because of abuse or neglect. Provides training, licensing, and services for foster families.

Assists individuals in Illinois in becoming licensed foster parents. Also provides follow-up training for foster parents to help meet the various needs of their foster children.

Services provided:

-- LCFS team provides guidance and support through the foster care experience.

-- Health insurance for the children placed in a foster home.

-- Therapy, counseling, and academic counseling, and special education services when needed.

-- Training programs, support groups, and newsletters geared to foster families.

-- Monthly financial support for the foster child(ren's) basic needs, including food, clothing, and housing costs.

-- Funding for daycare, after-school care, and extracurricular activities including sports and art programs for eligible children in foster care.

Traditional Foster Care for children ages 0-18 whose families are unable or unwilling to meet the minimum standards of parents as defined by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

Specialized Foster Care provides intensive services to behaviorally challenged children ages 3-18. Relative Foster Care allows children who need to be placed out of their home to be placed with relatives.

Aftercare Program is specially designed to assist children and their families upon their return home from living with a foster family.

Other services include foster parent recruitment, adoption conversions.

Recruits and licenses homes for traditional and specialized foster care placement.

Traditional foster care programs provide synergy between foster parents, biological parents, the court, social workers, and the child. Foster parents cooperate with the court to set goals that (ideally) results in the return of the child to their family. If that is not possible, foster parents are asked to commit to permanency for the child.

Specialized foster care programs work to meet the special needs of physically, behaviorally, and emotionally challenged children; as well as the foster families serving them. This program works toward permanency by providing intensive case management and comprehensive mental health services, along with medical, developmental, and educational services.

Illinois foster care services are supported 24 hours a day. Training is required for foster parents at all levels of care, as well as annual continuing education to enhance skills.

Traditional foster care serves youth who have been determined to be abused, neglected, or dependent.

Relative foster care allows children who have been determined to be abused, neglected, or dependent to be placed in the home of a relative.

Specialized foster care is designed for youth who have significant behavioral, developmental, or emotional problems and who require more intense services and monitoring.

Offers help for families to adopt American children, both with and without unique challenges. The children assisted are not only from Illinois, but they can also reside anywhere in the United States. OCH works with other agencies to assist with the matching process and to assess the needs of the child to determine whether the child and family make an appropriate match.

Foster Care programs are designed to find safe, secure, and nurturing homes.

-- Relative Foster Care serves children who are placed in foster care with maternal or paternal relatives.

-- Fictive Kin Foster Care serves children who are placed with a non-relative, but the individual has personal or emotional ties with the child.

-- Traditional Foster Care serves children who are placed in non-relative, licensed foster homes.

-- Foster Family After Care serves children who have successfully returned home to their parents. It provides case management and counseling services in order to stabilize the newly reunited family. Services can continue for up to nine months.

Recruits and licenses homes for traditional and specialized foster care placement.

Traditional foster care programs provide synergy between foster parents, biological parents, the court, social workers, and the child. Foster parents cooperate with the court to set goals that (ideally) results in the return of the child to their family. If that is not possible, foster parents are asked to commit to permanency for the child.

Specialized foster care programs work to meet the special needs of physically, behaviorally, and emotionally challenged children; as well as the foster families serving them. This program works toward permanency by providing intensive case management and comprehensive mental health services, along with medical, developmental, and educational services.