Addressing Racial Disparities in the Illinois Family Regulation System

This report was produced by the Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative.

The Illinois Family Regulation System is a form of state violence that disproportionately harms Black Illinoisians and separates Black children from their parents.

Harm and trauma inflicted upon Black Illinoisians by the Family Regulation System is long lasting and disrupts entire communities for generations. Of course, too, this means the entire state of Illinois is negatively impacted by the anti-Black racism that plagues the Illinois Family Regulation System.

The system is ineffective at providing care and well-being to children, and inefficient in providing families the support they need. Children placed in foster care are more likely to experience homelessness and incarceration later in life, and these rates are much higher for Black youth than non-Black youth. Family is the cornerstone of all societies and cultures, and in Illinois, the Family Regulation System is disrupting and splitting Black families across the state. Of the children in foster care in Cook County, 67.1% are Black, though they make up 23.7% of all children in the county. Statewide, 15.3% of children are Black, but of the children in foster care statewide, 38.4% are Black.