- Adoption: Offers relative and non-relative, second parent, stepparent, adult, and DCFS foster parent adoption services.

- Post Adoption: Families are connected with resources meant to aid in adoption preservation.

- Legal Custody: Helps to provide legal custody to caregivers, whether for a child or disabled adult.

- Guardianship: Helps to provide legal guardianship, which allows the caregiver to make decisions for the child in their care.

Provides a list of referrals for adoption agencies in the area.

Provides adoption services.

Adoption services include recruitment, screening, assessing, and case management provided to persons choosing to adopt an infant. Counseling and support are provided to birth mothers/fathers choosing to place a child for adoption, as well as post-adoptive services for those who are adopted, adoptive parents, and birth parents. This includes international and private adoptions.

Adoptive home assessments provide guidance to prospective adoptive parents and/or adoptive parents in Iowa and Illinois.

Assists adoptive families with the process of adoption. Adoption specialists available to provide support and guidance before, during, and after adoptions.

Adoption programs:

-- Domestic Identified Adoption: Prospective adoptive families and birth parents connect with each other directly or through an intermediary. LCFS can provide guidance to the prospective adoptive families.

-- Interstate Adoption: LCFS can assist prospective adoptive families in Illinois who identify prospective birth parents in another state. LCFS can also assist prospective adoptive families living outside of Illinois who have located expectant parents living in Illinois who are considering an adoption plan.

-- Adopting Children in Care: LCFS can assist prospective adoptive parents who are interested in adopting youth in care who are waiting for adoptive families.

-- International (Home Study Only) Adoption: LCFS can complete a home study for Illinois prospective adoptive parents who are working with a Hague-accredited placing agency.

Provides services for birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted children.

Adoption Center's Programs:

-- Infant Adoption - The family will complete an adoption home study, become licensed as a foster parent and attend an adoption training. Adoptive families typically have an infant placement within 12-18 months. The Center requires potential adoptive parents to be at least 21-years-old. Families can come in all shapes and sizes and supports all potential parents in their dream of becoming a family.

-- International Adoption - The Center completes adoption home study services, foster home licensing services, and post placement visits for families pursuing international adoption.

The Center keeps extensive adoption records on file for children and families who completed adoptions through the agency. The adoption specialist is happy to assist an individual in locating information from his or her adoption file. There is a small fee for birth searches and fees are based on the time it takes to locate information.

Offers help for families to adopt American children, both with and without unique challenges. The children assisted are not only from Illinois, but they can also reside anywhere in the United States. OCH works with other agencies to assist with the matching process and to assess the needs of the child to determine whether the child and family make an appropriate match.

Serves families interested in adopting a legally free child.

Allows birth parents and adoptive parents to design an adoption plan that is in the best interest of the child, and recognizes the importance of the adoptive parents and birth parents developing an on-going relationship. Services include:

-- Counseling young women who are pregnant.

-- Adoption orientations.

-- Adoption home studies for domestic and international adoptions, as well as for special needs adoptions.

-- Post-placement supervision.

-- Finalization services.

-- Ongoing support groups.

-- Adoption searches.

Offers adoption services for families. Services may also include adoptive families who already have a prospective match or may have already received a placement of a child on their own. Once the family has made a decision the agency may assist in networking, or they may independently search on their own to locate a prospective match.

Assists expectant parents in examining their options and coming to a decision about placing their child for adoption. LCFS social worker meets with expectant family privately and confidentially, in a location that is comfortable for them. After placing a child for adoption the LCFS worker will continue to be available for follow-up support as needed. If the choice is made to not place the child for adoption, follow-up services are also available.

Services include:

-- Assistance with selecting adoptive parents.

-- Assistance with pregnancy-related expenses.

-- Follow-up services, including referrals to resources.

Provides adoption services that include, home studies for adoptions and foster licensing, direct hospital placement adoptions, adoption seminars, support groups during adoption waiting period and adoption support for birth parents.

Provides accurate information on adoption, and lifelong support, so the family is successful in meeting the child's best interest by offering the following services and resources:

Provides free and confidential pregnancy counseling for families, every step of the way; before, during, and after the birth of the child.

Assistance with making an adoption plan or parenting plan.

Parenting education.

Support and education for baby's father on request.

Home studies for prospective adoptive parents.

Newborn care home for baby as a safe haven.

Serves families interested in adopting a legally free child.

Allows birth parents and adoptive parents to design an adoption plan that is in the best interest of the child, and recognizes the importance of the adoptive parents and birth parents developing an on-going relationship. Services include:

-- Counseling young women who are pregnant.

-- Adoption orientations.

-- Adoption home studies for domestic and international adoptions, as well as for special needs adoptions.

-- Post-placement supervision.

-- Finalization services.

-- Ongoing support groups.

-- Adoption searches.

Provides services to all those who have adopted, placed a child for adoption, or been adopted through our agency. The services provided include, preparing an adoption history report of non-identifying information, conducting a full search to locate birth parents or adoptees, updating the file with locating information.

Provides foster care and foster parents support with an emphasis on children with disabilities (though there are also children without disabilities in the program). Services include:

Foster home licensure.

Children's placements.

Case management.

Social work services.

Foster home training.

Respite Care.

Adoptions.

Family Support.

Serves families interested in adopting a legally free child.

Allows birth parents and adoptive parents to design an adoption plan that is in the best interest of the child, and recognizes the importance of the adoptive parents and birth parents developing an on-going relationship. Services include:

-- Counseling young women who are pregnant.

-- Adoption orientations.

-- Adoption home studies for domestic and international adoptions, as well as for special needs adoptions.

-- Post-placement supervision.

-- Finalization services.

-- Ongoing support groups.

-- Adoption searches.

Provides a foster care program in Southern Illinois for children ages 21 and under. Services include monthly training and support, inclusion with child and family team meetings and care training.

Services are designed to support and strengthen the lives of adoptive parents, adult adopted persons, and birth parents by providing compassionate profiles, searches, and intermediary services.

Services include:

-- Individual and Family Counseling by request from anyone involved in an adoption plan made through Catholic Charities at any time.

-- Mutual consent registry.

-- Background histories and non-identifying profiles.

-- Post adoption search and intermediary service in the form of indirect and direct contact between interested parties.