Canning Foundation Makes $750,000 Five-Year Investment in Let It Be Us Adoption Programs

Canning Foundation Makes $750,000 Five-Year Investment in Let It Be Us Adoption Programs

Major five-year commitment will help Let It Be Us find families for Illinois children who need them most

BARRINGTON, IL – October 2026 – Let It Be Us announced a $750,000, five-year investment from the Canning Foundation to expand its adoption programming and help find permanent families for some of Illinois’ most difficult-to-place children and youth.

The commitment from Rita and John Canning and the Canning Foundation will provide $150,000 annually for five years, giving Let It Be Us sustained resources to recruit, engage, and prepare families for children who often wait the longest for adoption, including older youth, sibling groups, and children with significant medical, developmental, behavioral, or mental health needs.

The investment builds on significant support from the Gies Foundation and provides Let It Be Us with a strong foundation to expand its statewide adoption work and develop a larger pipeline of Illinois families prepared to provide permanent, lifelong homes.

“This is a transformational investment in Illinois children,” said Susan A. McConnell, Founder and Executive Director of Let It Be Us. “Rita and John Canning understand that finding families for children with complex needs requires persistence, expertise, technology, and sustained investment. Their five-year commitment gives us the ability to do this work strategically and at scale.”

Founded in 2014, Let It Be Us develops innovative solutions to some of the most persistent challenges facing Illinois’ child welfare system. The organization works statewide in partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and private child welfare agencies to recruit families based on the actual needs of children in care.

Central to that work is Let It Be Us’ proprietary database of more than 1,200 Illinois-licensed foster homes and its Open Home Navigator technology. Together, these resources help identify families based on their availability, experience, preferences, and capacity, allowing Let It Be Us and its partners to strengthen recruitment, matching, and placement efforts.

The Canning Foundation’s investment will allow Let It Be Us to build on this infrastructure while expanding targeted family recruitment, education and engagement, staff capacity, training, agency coordination, and the use of technology and data. Importantly, the long-term funding will also help the organization maintain relationships with prospective families throughout the often-lengthy journey from initial interest to licensing and adoption.

Over the next five years, Let It Be Us will work to grow the number of qualified Illinois families available for adoption, with particular attention to families prepared to welcome older youth, sibling groups, and children with complex needs. The organization will also focus on helping more prospective families progress from initial interest through licensing and using statewide family and placement data to continually strengthen its recruitment efforts.

Sustained recruitment is particularly important in foster care and adoption. Families leave the foster care system after adopting, foster homes close, and the needs of children entering care continually change. Maintaining a strong statewide network of prepared families therefore requires ongoing recruitment, engagement, and investment.

“Transforming outcomes for children requires more than a short-term solution,” McConnell said. “It requires vision, persistence, innovation, and partners willing to invest for the long term. We are deeply grateful to Rita and John Canning and the Canning Foundation for believing in this work and, most importantly, for believing in the potential of every child to have a family of their own.”

About Let It Be Us

Let It Be Us is an Illinois-licensed child welfare agency and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2014. The organization develops innovative solutions to improve foster care and adoption outcomes by recruiting families, matching children with families, supporting placement efforts, and using technology and data to strengthen Illinois’ child welfare system. Let It Be Us works statewide in partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, private child welfare agencies, community organizations, employers, healthcare organizations, schools, faith communities, and civic partners.

Media Contact:
Let It Be Us
Dr. Susan A. McConnell
Founder and Executive Director
susanmcconnell@letitbeus.org
Cell: 847-528-2044