How to Choose a Foster Care Agency in Illinois

Searching for foster care agencies in Illinois usually returns a list. What the search does not tell you is that the list is the easy part, and that the real decision sits underneath it. Illinois has dozens of licensed agencies, and every legitimate one of them will get you to the same place: a license issued under the same state standards. What differs is everything that happens along the way, and everything that happens after.

That is the choice most families are actually making when they start looking. Not which agency is allowed to license you, but which one you want walking beside you for the next several years. Let It Be Us exists partly to help with exactly this question. Our Foster Care Licensing Support Program guides families before and through licensing, helping them understand their options and select the DCFS-licensed agency that fits their situation. We do not process applications ourselves, which is precisely why we can be honest about how the agencies differ. Complete this form to get started today.

What follows is how the Illinois system is structured, what separates one agency from another, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything. To register for a live webinar with Let It Be Us and learn about foster care and adoption opportunities in Illinois, please visit www.letitbeus.org/events.

How Foster Care Agencies Work in Illinois

Illinois runs the system on two levels, and understanding the split clears up most of the early confusion.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is the state agency. DCFS sets the licensing standards, enforces them, and holds legal responsibility for children in state care. DCFS does provide licensing, and many families complete licensing through one of the many private child welfare agencies that DCFS has licensed to do that work.

This structure exists for practical reasons. The hands-on parts of licensing, meaning the training sessions, the home study interviews, the phone call at nine on a Tuesday night when a placement is not going well, all require people close to the families they serve. Private agencies provide that local capacity across the state. DCFS sets the bar every one of them has to clear.

Illinois law backs this arrangement up. All agencies providing foster care services in Illinois must be licensed by DCFS, under licensing standards the department sets for every child welfare agency in the state [1]. The practical implication for your search is worth stating plainly: licensure is not a differentiator. Every agency you are choosing between has already cleared the state’s bar. If an agency is operating legally in Illinois, its license tells you it met the minimum, not that it will serve your family well.

So the question is not whether an agency is approved. It is what that agency does with the approval.

What to Look for When Choosing an Agency

There is no official state ranking of Illinois foster care agencies, no star rating, no scorecard published anywhere. Families ask us for one regularly and we have to tell them it does not exist.

What we can offer instead is what we have learned from years of walking Illinois families through this decision. These are the factors that consistently separate an agency a family stays with from one they leave:

• Ongoing support after licensing. Some agencies treat the license as the finish line. Others build a support structure around the family that lasts through placements, disruptions, and the years after. Ask what support looks like in year two, not week one.
• Staff experience and retention. A caseworker who has been at the agency for six years knows things a new hire does not, and reaching the same person twice matters more than families expect. High turnover is a signal worth taking seriously.
• Training quality and format. Every agency delivers the required pre-service curriculum. The difference is in how well they teach it, whether the schedule fits working families, and what continuing education they offer afterward.
• Responsiveness. How quickly does someone return your call during the inquiry stage? That is the most honest preview you will get of communication after you are licensed.
• What happens when a placement is hard. Placements disrupt. Children arrive with needs nobody anticipated. The agencies worth choosing have a clear, practiced answer for what they do in those moments.
• Fit with the kind of care you want to provide. An agency strong in therapeutic care may not be the best match for a family interested in kinship, and the reverse holds too.

None of these are visible from a directory listing, which is the core problem with agency selection in Illinois. They surface through conversation. If you would rather work through this list with someone who knows the landscape, that is what our Foster Care Licensing Support Program is for.

The Illinois Foster Care Licensing Process, Step by Step

Once you have chosen an agency, the licensing sequence is broadly the same statewide, because DCFS sets it. Here is the shape of it:

1. Orientation or informational session. An overview of what fostering involves and what the agency provides. Attending one at more than one agency is a reasonable way to compare them.
2. Application packet. Household details, references, and initial paperwork.
3. PRIDE pre-service training. 30+ hours of coursework, delivered online by live webinar or in a self-paced format.
4. Home study interviews. A licensing worker meets with your household to understand your family, your motivations, and your capacity.
5. Home inspection. A safety review of your physical space.
6. Background checks. Criminal background checks for all household members age 13 and older.
7. Health screening. Including verification that immunizations are current [2].

Most Illinois families move through all of this in three to six months. Your own pace depends heavily on how quickly paperwork comes back and how the training schedule lines up with your life.

Our guide to becoming a foster parent in Illinois walks through each of these steps in detail, and our comprehensive guide to foster parent training covers what the coursework actually includes.

Become a licensed foster parent through Let It Be Us by completing this form, or visit www.letitbeus.org/events to attend a live webinar.

Financial and Household Requirements Illinois Agencies Evaluate

Every agency you consider will evaluate your household against the same state requirements, so this is not an area where agency choice changes the outcome. It is worth knowing what the standard is before you worry about meeting it.

What licensing requires is financial stability [2], which means your household can cover its own costs without depending on the monthly payment that accompanies a placement. That payment offsets the cost of caring for a child; it is not household income. Families who assume they earn too little to qualify are frequently wrong about that.

Beyond finances, agencies evaluate whether your home has adequate space for a child, and every household member 13 and older completes background checks, along with a health screening.

Our comprehensive guide to foster care requirements covers the full eligibility picture, including the situations that give families the most uncertainty.

Traditional, Emergency, Specialized, and Kinship: Which Type of Care Fits Your Family

Choosing an agency also means being honest about what kind of care you are suited to provide. Agencies differ in which pathways they emphasize, so knowing your answer first narrows the field considerably.

Traditional foster care is the pathway most families picture: caring for a child in your home while their permanency plan, most often reunification with their family, moves forward.

Therapeutic foster care, also called treatment foster care or specialized foster care, serves children with significant emotional, behavioral, or medical needs. It requires additional training and a higher level of agency support.

Emergency Foster Care opportunities involve short-notice placements, sometimes within hours, for children who need immediate safety. This pathway suits families with flexibility and steady nerves. Our Emergency Placement Referral Program connects licensed families with these placements.

Kinship placement applies when a child is placed with a relative or a close family friend. The licensing pathway and the payment structure differ from traditional foster care.

One point that applies across all four: LGBTQIA+ Affirming Care Training is required for all Illinois foster parents. It is a standard part of preparation, not a specialization you opt into.

If you have considered being a foster parent and want to learn more about traditional, specialized, emergency or therapeutic foster care please join us for a live webinar to learn and ask your questions.

Questions to Ask an Illinois Foster Care Agency Before You Commit

Treat your first conversation with an agency the way you would an interview, because it is one, running in both directions. These are the questions we recommend families bring:

• What does support look like after we are licensed, specifically in the first year of a placement?
• How many families does each caseworker carry, and who do we call after hours?
• Is the pre-service training live, self-paced, or a mix, and what does the schedule look like?
• What continuing education do you provide after licensing?
• What happens if a placement is not working? Walk us through what you actually do.
• How long has our licensing worker been with the agency?
• What types of placements do you most often work with?
• How often will we hear from you when we do not have a child placed?

The answers matter less than how they are delivered. An agency that answers the hard questions directly, including the ones about placements that fail, is showing you how it will communicate when something goes wrong. Vagueness at the inquiry stage rarely improves later.

Ask the same questions at two or three agencies. The contrast tells you more than any single conversation will.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I choose DCFS or a private agency?

Either is possible. DCFS licenses families directly, and many Illinois families license through one of the private child welfare agencies DCFS has licensed to do that work. DCFS sets and enforces the standards in both cases, and the agency you choose delivers the training, home study, and ongoing support. Choosing among those options is the decision in front of you.

How much do foster parents get paid in Illinois?

Foster parents receive a monthly board payment intended to offset the cost of caring for a child, not to serve as income. The amount varies by the child’s age and level of need, with higher rates for specialized and therapeutic placements. DCFS tracks and reports on the program in its reports and statistics index [3], and the agency you license through can give you the current figures that apply to your situation.

How long does it take to become a foster parent in Illinois?

Three to six months for most families, from first inquiry to license in hand. Training scheduling and paperwork turnaround are the two factors most within your control, and both are worth asking about before you choose where to apply.

What disqualifies you from being a foster parent in Illinois?

Fewer things than most people assume. Certain criminal convictions are automatic bars, and licensing evaluates household safety and stability, but renting, being single, working full time, and having a modest income are not disqualifiers. Our article on what actually disqualifies an applicant covers the specifics.

Is there a shortage of foster parents in Illinois?

Illinois consistently needs more licensed families, particularly for teenagers, sibling groups, and children with specialized needs. The number of Illinois children in care has been declining, which is genuinely good news, since it reflects more children safely at home with their families. The need for families willing to foster has not gone away. To learn where you might fit, visit www.letitbeus.org/events and join an upcoming webinar.

What happens to most children in foster care?

Most return home. Reunification with the birth family is the most common outcome for children exiting Illinois foster care, more common than adoption [4].

Nationally, neglect is the most common reason children enter care, well ahead of physical abuse [5]. That reframes what prospective families should expect: households more often struggling with poverty, housing instability, or a lack of support than anything dramatic.

Choosing the Agency That Fits Your Family

The agencies on your list all meet the state’s standards. The one worth choosing is the one whose answers made sense to you, whose people returned your calls, and whose description of a difficult placement sounded like something they had lived through rather than something they had rehearsed. That is a judgment call, and it is yours to make.

You do not have to make it alone. Let It Be Us helps Illinois families work through this decision every week, and we are ready to support you. Your foster care and/or foster care adoption journey can start today. Complete this form to get started, or visit www.letitbeus.org/events to attend a live webinar and ask your questions first.

References

[1] Illinois DCFS. "Rules 401: Licensing Standards for Child Welfare Agencies." dcfs.illinois.gov, 2025-04-10. https://dcfs.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dcfs/documents/about-us/policy-rules-and-forms/documents/rules/rules-401.pdf

[2] Illinois DCFS. "Foster Care." dcfs.illinois.gov. https://dcfs.illinois.gov/loving-homes/fostercare.html

[3] Illinois DCFS. "Reports and Statistics." dcfs.illinois.gov. https://dcfs.illinois.gov/contact-us/media-room/reports.html

[4] U.S. Administration for Children and Families. "Illinois – Child Welfare Outcomes." cwoutcomes.acf.hhs.gov. https://cwoutcomes.acf.hhs.gov/cwodatasite/byState/illinois/

[5] Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO). "U.S. Foster Care Statistics 2026: Data & Trends." cafo.org, 2026-05-27. https://cafo.org/foster-care-statistics/

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