SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Roughly 4% of the Illinois children DCFS investigated last year came into the state's care. Department leaders told state lawmakers Thursday that they are able to place those children with parents 70% of the time.
DCFS recently improved their office responsible for helping children find alternate placements such as foster homes or agency shelters. There is also a new working group with child welfare management agencies focused on creating a seamless system for kids needing placement.
"It's key for us to do this in a collaborative way because we want to make sure that we address all of the things that they require so that they can readily be able to accept those youth," said Tim Snowden, Chief Deputy Director For Permanency & Intact Families.
Agency officials said they are committed to reducing the amount of time children stay in the state's care and increasing equity in recruitment of foster families. Acting DCFS Director Heidi Mueller said the department is considering the cultural background of every child before deciding where they end up.
"Resources that are available and what is going to be in the case plan has to be really different," Mueller explained. "It can't be the same because the resources aren't the same. What the family is able to do isn't the same. That's really part of what we are looking at when we're trying to look for quality work in our case review process."Â
Although, some advocates told the House Adoption & Child Welfare Committee that lawmakers should consider improving opportunities for foster parents building relationships with biological parents in prison.
"That process isn't easy, and it often takes months and months before children have any kind of contact with the parents who are in prison," said Melissa Smith, a child welfare worker from Wabash County. "Sometimes there is little to no contact while parents are in prison and it could be one to two or even more years before that parent suddenly gets out."
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services recently improved their office responsible for helping children find alternate placements such as foster homes or agency shelters.
Smith also said the state could provide more funding for foster parent support specialists. She noted that support specialists are in the community helping foster parents through every step of their journey, but it is hard to access money.
"Funds that could possibly be available are not accessible to those who are in need of funds," Smith stressed. "It takes too much work and a lot of times it's a reimbursement. And if any of you have tried to do reimbursement, it may or may not ever happen. So, you kind of live with the hope that you will get your funds back."
Gov. JB Pritzker hopes to provide $421,389 in grant funding to DCFS for foster homes and specialized foster care during Fiscal Year 2025. Lawmakers approved just under $400,000 in grants for those services last year.Â
Copyright 2024. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
