By: Brent Diers, LCSW, LCFS Director of Clinical Services If you’re like me, you’ve been wandering through all of those zones in this graphic – back and forth – in the midst of these challenging times.  The feelings of fear, uncertainty and being out of control we all feel right now are familiar and omnipresent […]

  by Brent Diers, LCSW LCFS Director of Clinical Services Safety is first!  While the restrictions related to social distancing can be a great source of anxiety and stress, we must begin by understanding that these are actions each of us is involved in that promote our physical safety.  In the hierarchy of human needs, […]

  To All Families Served by LCFS, Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all those we serve, while maintaining a healthy workplace for our employees. As such, we are closely monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and following the guidelines and recommendations of the CDC (Centers […]

  Tamica Hatchett, MSW, Child Welfare Supervisor Why did you get into social work? When I was a child, my siblings and I were youth in care for seven years. Protective custody was taken after my mother disclosed her issues with addiction and we were placed with my maternal grandmother. In those seven years, I […]

  Roger Fitzgerald-Jackson, Child Welfare Specialist Why did you get into social work? I got into social work because of the support that my family and I received when I was younger. I wanted to support families like mine that needed assistance. Initially, I had wanted to work in criminal justice. However, due to the […]

  Tamara Turner, Child Welfare Specialist Why did you get into social work? I dreamed of being a social worker from a very young age because of my aunt, who I look up to and who has worked for DCFS for more than 25 years. She used to tell me stories of kids whose parents […]

  Kimberly Hutchcraft, Child Welfare Specialist Why did you get into social work? I worked at a factory for nine years and was a single mother raising two boys on my own. My youngest son is bipolar, and I was dealing with his school every day. Some of the school staff didn’t feel supportive of […]

  Susan Radcliff, MSW, LSW, Adoption Supervisor, LCFS Belleville office Why did you get into social work? I got into social work because I wanted to help other families adopt or foster like our family had done. We had five adoption processes, three of which were successful and fostered several children during our adoption journey. […]

  Stephanie Davingman, CADC, LCSW, LMFT, CCT, Clinical Program Manager Why did you get into social work? I have always felt that the world should be fair and social work really strives to deal with injustice in the world. The importance of family drew me to doing counseling in child welfare, and I am able […]

  November is National Adoption Month, and Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois (LCFS) wants to help educate people on the realities of adoption. There are many myths and misconceptions about what adoption looks like in today’s society. CLICK HERE for a helpful resource of five common adoption myths and the realities families should […]

  The Council on Accreditation’s 2019 Innovative Practices Award celebrates LCFS’ Regenerations program as an example of successful innovation in the human services field. Sadly, Illinois has struggled with hundreds of older foster youth in correctional and detention centers that are past their release dates, but stay in jail because they have no place to […]

  Danny entered foster care at age 3 when he and his siblings were removed from their mother’s care due to abuse. During the next 17 years, Danny bounced around from home to home and even spent time in a residential group facility and psychiatric hospitals. During his teens, Danny spent six and a half […]

  Today, Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois (LCFS), the second largest private provider of child welfare services in Illinois, including foster care and adoption, proudly announced that it is being recognized in Celebrating Everyday Change-Makers in Child Welfare — a first-of-its-kind report highlighting more than 70 child welfare agencies across the country that […]

  In May, we celebrate National Foster Care month. As the President and CEO of Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, one of the largest private child welfare agencies in Illinois, I am saddened to say that our foster care system is in crisis due to a lack of investment. And it is the […]

  Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois was chosen as one of eight member organizations to participate in Lutheran Services in America’s Results Innovation Lab. As a whole, LCFS is strongly committed to the elimination of institutional racism and disparate outcomes for children, youth and families of color. Through the agency’s participation in the […]

  A group of colleagues and I went to see the movie, Instant Family. We were all curious to see how the movie would portray foster care. As employees of Lutheran Child and Family Services, one of the largest private child welfare agencies in Illinois, we have a unique perspective on the topic. Our group […]

  It’s Convenient. It’s Easy. It’s Informative.  LCFS launches a new Planned Giving website! You can leave a lasting legacy of protecting children, strengthening families and building futures with a planned gift to LCFS. Explore LCFS’ new Planned Giving website, and you’ll find valuable personal, financial and estate planning resources. Resources include: Online Wills Planner […]

  Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois was recently chosen as one of eight member organizations to participate in Lutheran Services in America’s Results Innovation Lab! Utilizing a results-based leadership approach, the Lab is focused on the development of leadership capacity across LSA’s nationwide network of member organizations. Through the Lab, Lutheran Services in […]

  Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, one of the largest nonprofit child welfare agencies in Illinois, recently moved to a new office space at 618 South 42nd Street in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. They are hosting a community Open House at their new location on Friday, August 24th from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. […]

  Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, one of the largest nonprofit child welfare agencies in Illinois, will move our Corporate Support Center to a new office space at One Oakbrook Terrace, Suite 501 in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Our current corporate office located in River Forest will close on Tuesday, July 10 at 4:30 p.m. […]

  Through our work as a child welfare agency, Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois sees and interacts with traumatized children every day. While the separation policy has been rescinded, many issues still need our voices and our action. The executive order has ended detaining children and parents separately, but answers are still needed […]

  Help a child … feel safe, build a future, return to family. Become a part-time STAC foster parent. Southern Thirty Adolescent Center (an emergency shelter for youth in Mt. Vernon, Illinois) needs part-time foster parents to provide temporary overnight care for a child. Questions worth considering … Do you have compassion for innocent children […]

  In the middle of the summer we start planning the LCFS Christmas Drive, with hopes to make Christmas extra special for the more than 1,800 children served statewide in LCFS’ Foster Care program. This weekend was our Northern Illinois Santa’s Toy Store set-up day. Volunteers drove their sleighs (Uhaul trucks) to pick up gifts […]

  In late August 2017, current and former staff, current and former LBK youth, supporters and community members gathered to celebrate and say farewell to Lutherbrook Child and Adolescent Center in Addison, Illinois. Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois was founded as an orphanage in 1873 by fourteen Lutheran congregations on a site just […]