On December 13, 2018, the Acting Public Guardian for Cook County, Illinois filed a class action complaint against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), filed on behalf of children in DCFS custody who have remained at psychiatric hospitals beyond medical necessity (BMN) due to a lack of community placements. The plaintiffs allege that DCFS was aware of its responsibility to create appropriate placements for children in DCFS custody ready for discharge from a psychiatric hospital, but over the past four years, the number of children held BMN has increased each year. The lawsuit characterized the problem as . . .

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Child & Family Services

The children and family services market encompasses a wide range of services and supports for children who are involved with the child welfare system and/or who have complex physical and behavioral health conditions. For organizations serving children, the market challenges are increasing – from increased incidence of serious child mental health issues and autism, to a lack of community-based placements for children with complex needs, to increases in family involvement in the child welfare system due to parental opioid use, to uncertainty in the special education sector about the implications of new federal policies.


Five additional states have joined the federal ā€œA Home For Every Childā€ pilot initiative, bringing total participation to nine states as of April 8, 2026. The most recent states to join the initiative are Alabama, Iowa, and Nebraska in April, following Kansas and Mississippi in March. They join the initial participating states of Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The initiative, established by presidential executive order in November 2025, aims to increase the availability of foster… Read