Most foster care survivors never told the police. Many never told anyone. Children in foster homes often had no safe adult to turn to, and some were afraid of being moved again or not being believed. If that was your experience, it does not stand in the way of a civil claim.
A civil claim requires no police report, no charge, and no conviction. Most of the people we speak with never reported. A civil claim asks a different question from a criminal case: what DCFS or a licensed private agency knew, what it should have known, and what it did.
Attorney Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane (Illinois bar registration 6319808, admitted 2014), reviews these claims.
Why the agency is the focus
A foster placement is made by an agency that is supposed to have checked it. When a child is harmed there, the claim looks at what the agency knew about the home, what checks it made, and what it did when a concern was raised. Those answers are found in the agency's own records, not in a police file.
That is also why incomplete memory is not a barrier. These cases are built from institutional records rather than from a complete account.
Who the claim is against
These claims are usually brought against DCFS or a licensed private agency, not only against the individual. Negligent placement is the theory that most often carries them, though several usually run together. Which one fits depends on your facts.
The responsible body may be the State, through DCFS, or a private agency working under contract with DCFS. Working out which one made and supervised the placement is the first thing to check. When DCFS placed the child, the claim goes against the State in the Illinois Court of Claims, under its own filing requirements and damages limits. When a private licensed agency did, the claim goes against that agency in the ordinary courts.
Common Questions Around Unreported Foster Care Abuse
Will my name be public if I go forward? Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record. We explain them before anything is filed.
I only remember part of what happened. That is ordinary, and the records carry much of the weight.
Does calling commit me to anything? No. Nothing is set in motion by asking a question.
What happens when you contact us
You speak with a person, not a form or a script. You do not have to describe what happened in order to have the conversation. We look into which institution was responsible, what it knew, what records exist, and whether a claim can still be brought. That work costs you nothing.
We tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, that is the end of it, and what you told us stays confidential. If you go ahead, we carry the filings, deadlines, records, and insurers. Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
Call (708) 671-6858 for a free, confidential case review.
