Every child deserves “two-way” love.

Foster kids are kids like any other. But they’ve experienced more difficult situations and tougher times than most adults ever will. The court has placed them in foster care for their protection due to family circumstances, not because of anything they have done.

In many cases, children are placed in foster care because they have been abused or neglected and are unable to continue living safely with their families. Sometimes homelessness, loss of income, addiction, hospitalization, mental illness, or parental death make it impossible for a biological family to care for a child. These children all need safety, love, support, and guidance.

Shelter’s Home-of-Relative , Traditional Foster Care, and Emergency Foster Care programs aim to place children in safe, stable, and nurturing environments until they can be reunited with their biological families. When reunification is not possible for safety or other reasons, adoption may be one option, though fostering is typically a temporary commitment.

In addition to placing children who are referred to us, Shelter actively seeks loving, caring, and concerned adults willing to open their hearts and their homes to children in need. Foster parents may be single or have any marital status, working, in school, stay at home, retired, have other children, live alone, be of any faith, sexual orientation, gender identification, or race.

Our staff guides families through the application and training process required for licensing by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. In addition, staff work one-on-one with foster parents to help them provide the medical, educational, and mental health support services a child may need to make a successful adjustment.

Regardless of individual circumstances, all children in foster care have been traumatized from being separated from their family. Many of them struggle with behavioral and emotional challenges. Like all children, youth in foster care need to feel safe, loved, and accepted. Helping them heal may be challenging, but an extremely rewarding experience.

Click here to contact our licensing specialist or call 847.590.6190, x35

View Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

View State of Illinois Foster Care Requirements

Learn more about becoming an Emergency Foster Parent

Shelter’s Child Welfare License #: 018607-12