Initial Placement Types
Definition: Initial placement types for children entering substitute care during the year.
Initial placement types include home of parents (HMP), kinship foster homes, traditional foster homes,
specialized foster homes, emergency shelters or emergency foster care, and group homes or institutions.
The Kinship Foster Home category includes Delegated Relative Authority (DRA) and Home of Relative (HMR).
The Traditional Foster Home category includes Foster Home Boarding DCFS (FHB), Foster Home Indian (FHI),
Foster Home Boarding Private Agency (FHP), and Foster Home Adoption (FHA).
The Specialized Foster Home category includes Foster Home Specialized (FHS) and Foster Home Treatment (FHT).
The Emergency Shelter or Emergency Foster Care category includes Youth Emergency Shelters (YES),
Agency Foster Care/Shelter Care, Emergency Shelters Institutions, Emergency Shelters Group Homes, and Emergency Foster Care (EFC).
The Group Home or Institution category includes Group Home (GRH), Detention Facility/Jail (DET), Institution DCFS (ICF),
Institution Department of Corrections (IDC), Institution Department of Mental Health (IMH), Institution Private Child Care Facility (IPA),
Institution Rehabilitation Services (IRS), and Nursing Care Facility (NCF).
Exclusions
Children who enter care and stay 7 days or fewer are excluded.
A Note on Totals
The per-year totals for this measure ("ALL CHILDREN") reflect the total numbers of children with valid values for the breakdown being viewed. Since counts may be culled from records missing geographic, demographic or placement type information, totals between breakdowns may not be identical. For example, adding counts for all age groups for a given year may not produce the same result as adding races, since there may be missing races and/or ages in the population.
A Note on Race
If the value of the primary race is Native American/Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders, it was coded as "Other." If the value of primary race was "could not be verified," "unknown," "declined to identify," or missing (null), it was treated as missing and excluded when indicators are reported by race/ethnicity.
The data used to compute this measure come from two Illinois DCFS data systems: the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and the Child and Youth Centered Information System (CYCIS). Both the SACWIS data and the CYCIS data were extracted on December 31, 2024. They were calculated based on the state fiscal year, which spans the 12-month period from July 1 to June 30.