Illinois Families Now and Forever

              2004 • Volume 4 Summer • Edition
FAMILIES
Now and
Forever
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services©
ILLINOIS
Families by Foster Care, Adoption and Guardianship
Bryan Samuels
From the
DCFS
Director
This year marks the 40th anni-versary
of DCFS as a state depart-ment
dedicated to protecting
children and nurturing families.
Caring for children in crisis is not
a new concept. However, in the
40 years of DCFS history, societal
pressures have had devastating
effects on some families and
jeopardized the safety of many
children.
DCFS has been there to step in.
For four decades, the overall mis-sion
has remained the same, but
the department has had to shift
strategies in response to the
needs. Now we serve children
with more complicated challeng-es.
That means everyone from
executive management to direct
service staff to hands-on care-givers
will need to employ new
resources.
As you will see in this “Back-to-school”
edition, education is
going to be an important tool as
we fight for children’s futures.
DCFS is working to create better
links with educators. We are
examining what children need to
progress. I believe an emphasis
on education will help prepare
youth for victories while in care
and beyond.
A study conducted by the Uni-versity
of Chicago found the child
welfare system that is designed to
help youth can sometimes limit
well being in education, employ-ment
and mental health. Youth
aged 17 to 21 in Illinois, Wisconsin
and Iowa participated in the study
to gather information on services
provided to youth in foster care
and to report on their outcomes
as adults. The first part of the
study used individual interviews
and records that spotlighted the
troubled backgrounds that led
them to state-provided care and
outlined the obstacles many face
upon leaving care. Yet, 92
percent of the youth said they still
were fairly or very optimistic
about the future.
The children are not the only ones
to be optimistic. DCFS is working
closely with the University and
other child welfare experts to
determine action steps from the
initial findings. The study will
help DCFS develop new plans and
programs for older youth in foster
care.
“Preparing young people for their
life after care has to be a priority,”
Aging out of DCFS is tough,
but youth remain hopeful
said Director Samuels. “While
there is a large number of children
who will leave the system through
reunification, adoption or guar-dianship,
we still have to support
and parent those who will not.”
The best means to serve youth
who grow to become adults while
in state care has been debated for
years. Independent Living pro-grams
were designed to meet the
needs of teenagers who likely
would not return home or be
adopted. Federal funds for
independent living services were
made available in 1985, but were
initially prevented from covering
a young person’s room and board
costs. Currently, the John Chafee
Foster Care Independence Pro-gram
offers states more flexibility
to help youth transition to
adulthood, allowing 30 percent of
funds to be applied to room and
board and extending Medicaid
coverage for those formerly in
care to age 21. The University of
Chicago study was developed to
see how independent living
programs in three Midwest states
are working, based on the success
outcomes of the youth aging out
of care.
TM
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