Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

Illinois' child welfare agency continues to fail to meet the most basic requirements of a court order meant to ensure Spanish-speaking parents understand what they need to do to regain custody of their children, preserve their bond with them and honor the family’s culture.

The U.S. family foster care program dates back over 150 years. Known as the father of foster care, a young minister – Charles Loring Brace – was horrified by the thousands of orphaned and destitute European immigrant children he found roaming the streets of New York City or barely surviving in tenements and orphanages.