Foster Care & Adoption

We provide foster care and permanency solutions for more than 200 youth ages 0-21 across the Chicagoland area, including children who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We are continually searching for welcoming homes and loving parents regardless of age, race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identification, income, or education level. Candidates must be 21 years of age or older, pass a background check, complete DCFS licensing training, provide a safe home with an available bed for a child, and have a passion to make a difference in a child’s life.

We offer tiered involvement so you can get to know our program and choose a role that works for you. Volunteer, provide respite care, make a donation, mentor a youth, or become a foster parent – you choose the path and we will guide you through the process.

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Chicago Office

700 N. Sacramento Blvd, Suite 201

Chicago, IL 60612

P: 773.265.1539

South Suburban Office

600 W. Town Center Road

Matteson, IL 60443

P: 331.276.5080

To be a foster parent, you must:

• Be at least 21 years of age

• Pass a background check

• Have space in your home for a youth

• Have love in your heart to provide care

Helping professionals and empty nesters are frequent prospective caregivers, but all families who meet the qualifications are welcome! Attend one of our events to get to know us and learn more.

At this time, Little City does not have a mentoring program. However, if you are interested in mentoring a youth, please contact us to discuss details. We also offer volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Visit Little City’s Facebook Page to learn about upcoming volunteering opportunities.

Fostering a child can be daunting and it requires time and energy to become a licensed foster parent. We offer many ways to get involved: volunteer, mentor, donate, sponsor, be a respite provider, or become a foster parent! Contact us at foster@littlecity.org to learn more.

Youth In Care are referred to Little City Foster Care by the Illinois Department of Child & Family Services.

Little City offers various supports to relative and licensed foster parents including 24/7 crisis support; case management and care coordination; weekly in-home or telehealth therapy; resources and referral assistance; court, school and other community-based advocacy; free medical care through YouthCare/Medicaid; State-subsidized day care for youth aged 12 and under; access to over 200 continuing training hours per year conducted by agency staff and experts; foster parent appreciation activities; private/confidential Facebook Support Group; foster parent mentoring; paid respite hours; paid incentives for referrals; and recognition in agency newsletters, social media, and agency website.

• Little City offers respite services to our relative and licensed foster parents. Respite providers are not employed by Little City. This is an agreement between the respite provider and the foster parent. Little City requires all respite providers to complete and pass a background check. Once respite provider is approved, Little City pays Foster Parent, and the foster parent pays respite provider.
• Little City also assists foster parents in securing respite for a night, weekend or occasionally a week-long or other extended stay by placing the youth in care with a licensed foster parent. The agency pays the foster parent the daily rate for their care.
• Foster parents and relative providers are encouraged to use their natural supports to meet the daily needs of youth in your care, just like you would for your own child. These arrangements are made by you, and do not involve any form of extra payment made to you by the agency, nor assistance from the agency.

Youth can remain in foster care for various lengths of time. Before a youth is placed in a foster care placement, the case management team will consult with the foster parent on anticipated length of stay. *Please note length of stay is subject to change, and foster parents may elect, with proper 30-Day notice, to have a youth removed from their care.

An Illinois Foster Parent License is good for four years before renewal. Foster parents are required to maintain home licensing standards per DCFS policy 402 and complete training hours yearly to remain eligible to maintain and renew a foster care license. Foster parents may elect to relinquish their foster parent license at any time.

Little City does not discriminate against potential foster parents due to martial status.

Absolutely! We welcome and actively seek loving families regardless of age, race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender-identification or gender-expression. We were also the first Illinois Human Service Agency to receive the HRC Seal in 2012.

Absolutely! Homeownership does not play a part in qualifying to becoming a foster parent. If renting, you must be the person listed on the rental lease as an occupant. The child must also have a bedroom separate from the adult caregiver’s if over the age of 2. Youth in care may share a bedroom with another child of the same gender or gender identification.

You must identify supports that can assist you with child care while at work. Or, your child may be eligible for state-subsidized daycare assistance.

There is no price associated with fostering with Little City – on the contrary, we pay you a monthly stipend to cover the added costs associated with caring for a youth in your home. The monthly adoption subsidy payment is the same amount paid to you when the youth was in foster care, and the payment continues until the youth reaches the age of 21.

If you choose Foster to Adopt, all cost associated with the legal proceedings for adoption will be covered by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Legal Council must be selected from an approved attorney’s list for DCFS to cover the cost.

Zero, zilch, nada, nothing. All of the prerequisite trainings required to become a foster parent are offered free of charge to you.  Once you become a licensed foster parent, the agency pays you a stipend for each day the youth is in your care.  The funds are paid to you to support the added costs of caring for a child in your home and cover expenses associated with clothing, food, shelter, allowance and more!

There are more than 21,000 youth in care in Illinois.  The number of families coming into contact with the child welfare system, and entering the system, has risen vastly since 2020.  Concurrently, the number of prospective foster parents expressing an interest in fostering has decreased and the number of currently licensed foster homes with availability to receive a youth in their homes has decreased.  As a result of this disparity, youth in need of loving homes are placed in shelters, hospitals and group living situations like residential homes far longer than necessary or appropriate.

Our greatest reward is making effective, stable matches between youth in care and foster or adoptive families. Every child deserves a stable and loving home environment in which to grow and thrive. This is our mission!

Little City’s Foster Care and Adoption Program serves youth ages 0-21 years old from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. We also serve youth who may identify as LGBTQPIA+.  Little City currently is unable to provide services in Spanish.  We serve youth who have identified special needs including intellectual, developmental, and/or emotional/ behavioral disabilities and youth who have no identified disabilities.  We serve sibling groups, babies, youth, and  We only have a contract and ability to provide adoption from foster care – we do not have a contract to provide private adoption/fee-for-service adoption services at this time.

The greatest need is for youth aged 12+ and sibling groups, particularly within the African American community, the Joliet area, and the LGBTQ+ community.