Special Needs Adoption

If the State of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) becomes the guardian of a child, that means DCFS will either attempt to reunite the child with his or her birth parents or else DCFS will seek to find an adoptive family for the child. DCFS prefers adoption over long term foster care for most of the children in its care.

Once DCFS finds an adoptive family for a child, the family will receive a monthly subsidy and a medical card for the child throughout childhood. DCFS will also pay the legal fees associated with that family’s adoption of the child. DCFS maintains a list of panel attorneys who are experienced in subsidized adoptions [DCFS Panel].

Some of these children have "special needs" meaning a physical or mental disability. Some of these children suffer from having been exposed in utero to drugs or alcohol [Fetal Alcohol]. All of these children are deserving of a loving family and a happy childhood.

The Law Office of Ellyn J. Bullock assists clients with adoption, guardianship and civil litigation in the Champaign-Urbana, Illinois area. Ellyn represents clients all over central Illinois, including in the Illinois Circuit Courts of Champaign County (Urbana), Sangamon County (Springfield), Vermilion County (Danville), Macon County (Decatur), Piatt County (Monticello), Coles County (Charleston), Ford County (Paxton), McLean County (Bloomington), Livingston County (Pontiac), Edgar County (Paris), Moultrie County (Sullivan), Peoria County (Peoria), Douglas County (Tuscola), DeWitt County (Clinton) and Logan County (Lincoln).