Everybody needs a place to call home--a stable and loving environment where they can lead a full and active life. Children with developmental challenges are just like anyone else. A child’s earliest years are the most formative-and possibly the most memorable. At Little City, we understand the needs of children with developmental challenges and do everything we can to help make childhood the underpinning for a meaningful, productive and dignified adulthood. That’s why we offer a variety of living arrangements and programs for children with mental retardation, autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental and behavioral challenges. They include our own neighborhood at Little City in Palatine, treatment and specialized foster care, Families One, home-based support, and our Special Needs Adoption Program—all of which operate throughout metropolitan Chicago.

...in our neighborhoodOur Child Care Center provides homes for children at Little City where we offer a warm, stable home for as long--or as short--a time as is necessary. Unfortunately, many of the children who live at Little City have experienced abuse or neglect. By providing a 24-hour therapeutic care setting, we are able to give the ongoing support that meets their individual needs.

...through Foster CareOur Foster Care program takes a holistic approach to providing services, focusing on the individual needs of each child. Home-based services for foster families are designed to minimize placement disruptions and to provide stability for the child. Dedicated staff members work with foster parents to create a nurturing and stable environment for the children in their care while their biological families receive intensive support aimed at helping them develop the skills to appropriately parent their children.

When Linda Larkin came to Little City nine years ago,“I had no idea what this place was all about,” she says. “I wanted to be working and it was a job.” Since then she has worked in almost every direct care program in the organization. Her current position is as orientation trainer where she helps other people learn what Little City is all about in the state recognized orientation training program.

“I’m a people person,”Linda says. “I like people.Whatever position I’m in, I try to give others what I want for myself – that is to be accepted, liked and understood. How simple it is to provide services and set the tone. When you treat a person well, that person never forgets.” (continued)