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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The only justification for the institution of
3foster care is that the other alternatives are worse; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Foster care is a suboptimal, long-term
5environment even when children have safe, stable, and loving
6non-relative or kinship foster parents; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Knowing where and to whom one belongs is a
8fundamental need of humans; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The process of removing children from their homes
10complicates children's understanding of belonging and for whom
11they may feel affection and consequently causes them to
12experience guilt about such feelings; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The ability to cope and adjust to various life
14circumstances requires some capacity, within reason, to
15anticipate what is coming; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Lack of predictability inhibits a child's ability
17to plan and therefore exercise real or perceived control over
18one's environment; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Human Services reports

 

 

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1that 69.3% of the children who have been in the Illinois foster
2care system for more than 24 months experience three or more
3placements; and
 
4    WHEREAS, A child entering foster care in Cook County is
5likely to remain in foster care significantly longer than a
6child entering foster care in any other region of the State;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, For purposes of providing child welfare services,
9the State is administratively divided into four regions,
10Northern, Central, Southern, and Cook; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Children from the Cook Region remain in foster
12care significantly longer than similarly situated children who
13enter foster care in the other three regions; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 provides that
15court has the responsibility of determining whether a child
16remains in foster care or exits foster care through
17reunification with family, adoption, or private guardianship;
18and
 
19    WHEREAS, The Juvenile Court Act of 1987, 705 ILCS
20405/2-14, provides that an adjudicatory hearing to determine
21whether a child is abused, neglected, or dependent shall be

 

 

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1commenced within 90 days of the date of service of process upon
2the minor, parents, any guardian, and any legal custodian,
3unless an earlier date is required; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Juvenile Court Act of 1987, 705 ILCS
5405/2-14, also provides that, once commenced, a subsequent
6delay in the adjudicatory hearing may be allowed by the court
7when necessary to ensure a fair hearing and only for good cause
8shown; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In FY 2020, the average number of days between
10the date of the child's entry into foster care and the
11completion of the adjudicatory hearing was 157.9 days in the
12Northern region, 150.9 days in the Central region, 137.6 days
13in the Southern region, and 489.7 days in the Cook region; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In FY 2021, the average number of days between
15the date of the child's entry into foster care and the
16completion of the adjudicatory hearing was 130.7 days in the
17Northern region, 126.9 days in the Central region, 115.8 days
18in the Southern region, and 325.0 days in the Cook region; and
 
19    WHEREAS, In FY 2020, the average number of days from the
20completion of the adjudicatory hearing to the entry of the
21order terminating parental rights was 777.0 days in the
22Northern region, 660.9 days in the Central region, 750.0 days

 

 

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1in the Southern region, and 961.4 days in the Cook region; and
 
2    WHEREAS, In FY 2021, the average number of days from the
3date of the completion of the adjudicatory hearing to entry of
4the order terminating prior rights was 729.1 days in the
5Northern region, 679.3 days in the Central region, 706.1 days
6in the Southern region, and 1,001.2 days in the Cook region;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, In FY 2022, the average number of days from the
9completion of the adjudicatory hearing was 774.8 days in the
10Northern region, 717.7 in the Central region, 886.8 days in
11the Southern region, and 1,169.8 days in the Cook region; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Children and Family Resource Center (CFRC) of
13the University of Illinois School of Social Work has issued
14several reports demonstrating that a child entering foster
15care in Cook County is likely to remain in foster care
16significantly longer than a child entering foster care in any
17other region of the State; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In its FY 2018 monitoring report to the federal
19court in the B.H. litigation, CFRC found that the median stay
20in care for those children entering foster care in the Cook
21region was 46 months in 2014, which was over a year longer than
22the time in other regions of the State; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In its FY 2021 monitoring report to the federal
2court in the B.H. litigation, CFRC concluded "In Illinois,
3there are large regional differences in the achievement of
4timely permanence for children in care. Over 66% of children
5taken into substitute care in the Cook region can expect to
6stay there longer than three years. In contrast, other regions
7of the state keep 36 percent of children in care that long. A
8continuing effort to achieve timely permanence in the Cook
9region is needed, so that these dismal numbers can be
10improved"; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In its FY 2021 monitoring report to the federal
12court in the B.H. litigation, CFRC reported that with respect
13to those children entering foster care in 2017, 66% of the Cook
14County children remained in foster care after 36 months while
1536% of the children who entered foster care in the rest of the
16State remained in foster care after 36 months; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In its FY 2021 monitoring report to the federal
18court in the B.H. litigation, CFRC found that with respect to
19those children who entered foster care in 2017, only 23% of the
20Cook County children were reunited with their families after
2136 months, while the figure for the rest of the State was 38%;
22and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In its FY 2021 monitoring report to the federal
2court in the B.H. litigation, CFRC found that with respect to
3those children who entered foster care in 2017, after 36
4months only 7% of the children in the Cook region exited foster
5care through adoption, while the figure for the rest of the
6State was 20%; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Those children who enter foster care in the Cook
8region and are eventually returned to their families or
9adopted will spend significantly more time in foster care than
10similarly situated children who enter foster care in other
11regions of the State; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Family Services
13(DCFS) statistics show that in FY 2020 the percentage of
14children who exited foster care through adoption was 10.5% in
15the Northern region, 9.7% in the Central region, 9.9% in the
16Southern region, and 5.4% in the Cook region; and
 
17    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that in FY 2020, the
18percentage of children who exited foster care through
19reunification with their families was 16.0% in the Northern
20region, 17.9% in the Central region, 15.2% in the Southern
21region, and 6.8% in the Cook region; and
 
22    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that in FY 2021, the

 

 

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1percentage of children who exited foster care through adoption
2was 9.4% in the Northern region, 9.2% in the Central region,
311.3% in the Southern region, and 4.9% in the Cook region; and
 
4    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that in FY 2021, the
5percentage of children who exited foster care through
6reunification with their families was 22.8% in the Northern
7region, 20.1% in the Central region, 17.8% in the Southern
8region, and 6.0% in the Cook region; and
 
9    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that in FY 2022, the
10percentage of children who exited foster care through adoption
11was 9.0% in this Northern region, 9.7% in the Central region,
1210.7% in the Southern region, and 4.2% in the Cook region; and
 
13    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that in FY 2022, the
14percentage of children who exited foster care through
15reunification with their families was 22.9% in the Northern
16region, 20.0% in the Central region, 16.1% in the Southern
17region, and 7.5% in the Cook region; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Additional statistics show that 71.2% of Illinois
19children in foster care in the Cook region are Black, and a
20total of 31.7% of the children in the other regions of the
21State are Black; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Regardless of race, children who enter foster
2care in the Cook region spend significantly more time in
3foster care than similarly situated children who enter foster
4care in other regions of the State; and
 
5    WHEREAS, In FY 2021, the median duration of care for Black
6children was 22.52 months in the Northern region, 21.11 months
7in the Central region, 26.98 months in the Southern region,
8and 42.72 months in the Cook region; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In 2021, the median duration of care for white
10children in foster care was 16.66 months in the Northern
11region, 20.79 months in the Central region, 24.30 months in
12the Southern region, and 34.30 months in the Cook region; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 2021, the median duration of care for Latinx
14children was 16.72 months in the Northern region, 19.80 in the
15Central region, 25.80 months in the Southern region, and 35.21
16months in the Cook region; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In FY 2022, the median duration of care for Black
18children was 26.36 months in the Northern region, 22.65 months
19in the Central region, 31.28 months in the Southern region,
20and 40.80 months in the Cook region; and
 
21    WHEREAS, In FY 2022, the median duration of care for white

 

 

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1children was 19.77 months in the Northern region, 25.62 months
2in the Central region, 25.16 in the Southern region, and 35.8
3months in the Cook region; and
 
4    WHEREAS, In FY 2022, the median duration of care the
5Latinx children was 17.54 months in the Northern region, 20.3
6months in the Central region, 22.07 months in the Southern
7region, and 35.48 months in the Cook region; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The disparate treatment of children in the Cook
9region is exemplified by DCFS data relating to children who
10entered foster care between April of 2019 and June 30, 2019;
11and
 
12    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics relating to those children who
13entered foster care between April of 2019 through June 30,
142019 show that statewide, 51.5% exited foster care within
15three years, with 8.7% leaving through adoption, 2.1% through
16guardianship, 39.6% through reunification, and 1.2% through
17relatives; and
 
18    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics relating to children who entered
19foster care in the Northern region between April of 2019 and
20June 30, 2019 show that 55.9% exited foster care within three
21years, with 7.3% exiting through adoption, 2.3% through
22guardianship, 44.9% through reunification, and 1.4% through

 

 

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1relatives; and
 
2    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics relating to children who entered
3foster care in the Central region between April of 2019 and
4June 30, 2019 show that 57.1% exited foster care within three
5years, with 10.3% exiting through adoption, 1.8% through
6guardianship, 44.5% through reunification, and 0.5% through
7relatives; and
 
8    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics relating to children who entered
9foster care in the Southern region between April of 2019 and
10June 30, 2019 show that 52.6% exited foster care within three
11years, with 11.5% exiting through adoption, 3.2% through
12guardianship, 36.4% through reunification, and 1.5% through
13relatives; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Statistics relating to children who entered
15foster care in the Cook region between April of 2019 and June
1630, 2019 show that 31.6% exited foster care within three
17years, with 2.7% exiting through adoption, 1.0% through
18guardianship, 25.9% through reunification, and 2.0% through
19relatives; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The disparate treatment of foster children in the
21Cook region is also exemplified by DCFS data relating to
22children who entered foster care between April of 2021 and

 

 

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1June 30, 2021; and
 
2    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics relating to those children who
3entered foster care between April of 2021 through June 30,
42021 show that the percentage who exited foster care within
5one year was 21.9% in the Northern region, 16% in the Central
6region, 18.4% in the Southern region, and 7.5% in the Cook
7region; and
 
8    WHEREAS, DCFS statistics show that as of January 9, 2023,
9the average length of stay in foster care was 31.4 months
10statewide, 28.0 months in the Northern region, 26.3 months in
11the Central region, 26.6 months in the Southern region, and
1242.6 months in the Cook region; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
14HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15we urge the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Circuit Court of
16Cook County to examine the reasons for the disparate length of
17foster care experienced by children in the Cook region; and be
18it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That we urge the Supreme Court of Illinois and
20the Circuit Court of Cook County to recommend legislation to
21reduce this disparity and shorten the duration of foster care
22experienced by children in the Cook region.