The Illinois Foster Parents Association congratulates staff writers Cornelia Grumman and Sue Ellen Christian for their excellent Dec. 22 report “Clearing up the foster care morass.” They clearly demonstrated the great strides Illinois has made in the past few years in reversing the number of children who remain in the child welfare system limbo.
These breakthroughs are mostly due to an unusually cooperative working relationship between sometimes adversaries: the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the Cook County Public Guardian, the Cook County Juvenile Court, Voices for Illinois Children, the Illinois Legislature and the Illinois Foster Parents Association.
The partnership formed between these public and private entities resulted in the new laws, regulations and operating procedures that should enhance return of children to their biological parents if appropriate; speed up termination of parental rights when family preserva-tion is not in the best interest of the child, and facilitate adoptions or subsidized guardianships so that the children do not languish for years in foster care.
