Exploring the Role of Guardianship in Effective and Equitable Permanency

When children are removed from their home because of maltreatment, the goal of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is to return them to a loving, safe, stable, and permanent home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the most recent statistics show that 47.3% of children and youth who entered substitute care from DCFS in 2018 were not placed in a permanent home within three years, and the permanency rate is worse for Black children.

This webpage presents work from a program of research on subsidized guardianship, one rarely used but promising permanency option that might help both increase permanency rates and reduce racial disparity. In subsidized guardianship, a family member, such as a grandmother or aunt, typically becomes the child’s permanent caregiver, but the child’s birthparents retain many of their parental rights. It is an alternative to adoption, which is the best option for many families but also requires termination of parental rights, which can be traumatic for children and families. Typically, DCFS provides subsidies to support family’s care of the child, but guardianship can be a permanency option even if families do not qualify for subsidies or choose not to pursue them.

This was a team effort between Children and Family Research Center, the Translational Research Team of DCFS’ Office of Research and Child Well-Being, and a group of students and volunteers from the School of Social Work. This research was supported by the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, through its Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program; and by funding by DCFS to the Translational Research Team of the Office of Research and Child Well-Being.

The research assesses both professionals’ and caregivers’ experience and opinions about guardianship and adoption, and explores racial issues that may affect the use of guardianship. We collected interview and survey data from both permanency professionals and from caregivers who have had at least one Black child in substitute care with the goal of becoming that child’s permanent caregiver. The team is producing a series of reports, research briefs, presentations, and articles presenting results from the study. This webpage provides links for all these products. We will update it periodically. If you have questions about the research, please email Ted Cross at tpcross@illinois.edu.