DCFS honors adoptive parents during Adoption Awareness Month

Nov. is Adoption Awareness Month, and the Ill. Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is celebrating the lifelong commitment of thousands of families across the state who have opened their hearts and homes to 17,159 children in need of loving families over the past decade.

"It is our mission to ensure that every child in Ill. grows up in a safe and loving family," said Ill. DCFS Director Marc D. Smith. "During Adoption Awareness Month, we encourage Illinoisans to get involved and become licensed foster, adoptive or guardianship parents to children who need them and celebrate the thousands of families across the state that have been made whole through adoption."

Last fiscal year 1,939 Ill. children were adopted into permanent, loving families. Today, there are 19,835 youth in care waiting for a family and place to call home. To learn more about some of them, visit the Heart Gallery of Ill. at Https://greenlightfamilyservices.org/heartgalleryofil/. For more information about becoming an adoptive parent, visit dcfs.illinois.gov and click on "Loving Homes" then on "Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent."

Adoption is a serious and permanent commitment to a child. DCFS offers a range of supports to adoptive families, including reimbursement for attorney fees and court costs, a monthly subsidy, a medical card and other benefits which assist in defraying expenses associated with raising a child. Many considering adoption become a liscensed foster familiy first, giving them a better understanding of the needs of children from disrupted families before making a life-changing decision.