Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
FFY 2012 Annual Progress and Services Report
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members of the Native American community and experts in the area of Native American culture,
as well as to enlist Native American leaders throughout the state to participate in a developing
state-wide Native American Advisory Council for DCFS. While there has been some positive
response from downstate Native American leaders, it has been more difficult to enlist Native
American community leaders outside the Chicago metropolitan area. In the past year, the
program contacted all of the universities throughout the state that either identified having a
Native American faculty member and/or course work related to Native American studies with
one very interested Native American community leader identified. This outreach work to
interested Native American leaders throughout the state will continue in the next coming fiscal
year and will continue to be a goal of the program. In addition, a bi-monthly meeting of
agencies/programs working with Native American families within the Chicago metropolitan was
convened beginning in early spring 2012 and included representation from the ICWA program.
To assist with the goal of improved communication and access to resources for Native American
community members, the ICWA program set up a website for the program within the
Department’s D-Net with extensive links to other resources within the Native American
community throughout the State including contact information for prospective Native American
foster parents. The program’s foster care recruitment brochure has been made available to Native
American community organizations throughout the Chicago area for distribution, as well as has
been distributed at community outreach activities throughout the year by program staff. Illinois
does not have any tribes within its borders; therefore, we do not have specific tribes with which
to exchange APSR or CFSP information.
Training to Support Compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act
The Department has continued to provide training led by Native American staff to educate child
welfare professionals, mental health professionals, legal staff and members of the Native
American community regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act. These trainings include the
historical foundation of the Act, relevance to the child welfare community, as well as an
overview of Departmental procedures when there is a question as to whether a child may be
Native American. Training material covered includes the importance of inquiry of Native
American heritage throughout the life of the case, implications for case and service planning,
placement preferences and permanency planning factors to be considered for Native American
children under the Indian Child Welfare Act. One goal of the ICWA program has been to
provide training to court communities throughout the state. Towards that goal, a presentation
was given in DuPage County to 250 participants including juvenile court judges and attorneys at
the 18th Judicial Circuit Child Welfare Issues Committee Symposium in April 2012. An ICWA
webinar training has been developed with the goal of providing these presentations to a broader
geographical audience, particularly downstate, including child welfare professionals, community
members, court personnel and families.
Summary of Goals and Specific Activities to improve or maintain compliance with ICWA
Increased collaboration between the Native American community and the Department. In
addition to ongoing outreach activities within the community and participation on
advisory committees within the Native American community, the program has done
extensive outreach to Native American leaders throughout the state to develop a state-wide
advisory council; informational meetings for interested Native American
