Foster care exists to move children out of danger. When the placement itself becomes the danger, something went wrong in the system that made it. A child cannot choose a foster home. An agency does, and that agency is supposed to have checked it.
If you were harmed in an Illinois foster placement, a civil claim may hold that agency responsible. You do not need to have reported it, and nobody needs to have been charged. The claim asks what DCFS or a licensed private agency knew, what it should have known, and what it did.
Attorney Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane, reviews these claims. He is registered with the Illinois bar (6319808) and was admitted in 2014.
The agency's role in the placement
When a child is harmed in a foster home, the claim turns to the agency behind the decision. What did it know about the home? What checks did it make? What did it do when a concern was raised? These questions shift the focus from the child's account to the agency's own conduct.
Who is held responsible
These claims are usually brought against DCFS or a licensed private agency, not only against the individual who caused the harm. Negligent placement is the theory that most often carries them. In practice, several theories run together, and which one fits is a question about your facts rather than a category.
The responsible body may be the State, acting through DCFS, or a private agency working under contract with DCFS. Identifying which one made and supervised the placement is the first thing to check.
Where the claim is brought
If DCFS placed the child, the defendant is a state agency, and the claim is brought against the State in the Illinois Court of Claims. That court has its own filing requirements and damages limits. If a private licensed agency placed the child, the claim is brought against that agency in the ordinary courts. Which it was decides the shape of the claim.
Common Questions Around Foster Placement Claims
Did I need to report the abuse? No. A civil claim requires no police report, no charge, and no conviction. Most of the people we speak with never reported.
Will my name be public? Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record. We explain them before anything is filed.
What if I only remember part of it? That is ordinary. These cases are built from institutional records, not a complete account.
What happens when you contact us
Asking a question does not start anything. You speak with a person, not a form, and you do not have to describe what happened. We look into which institution was responsible, what it knew, what records exist, and whether a claim can still be brought. That work costs you nothing.
We tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, that is the end of it, and what you told us stays confidential. If you go ahead, we carry the filings, deadlines, records, and insurers, and steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
Call (708) 671-6858 for a free, confidential case review.
