May is Foster Parent Appreciation Month in Illinois, a time to thank the thousands of foster families across the state who are providing temporary safe havens to youth and urge other residents to become licensed foster families. Youth are placed in the temporary care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) by local courts when it is determined that their families cannot safely care for them. DCFS works with the family to make the positive changes necessary to reunite with their children while foster families step up and provide homes where the children are protected, nurtured and loved. Today, there are just over 21,000 youth living in foster care in the state: 8,200 are living with foster families, 11,300 with relatives and 1,200 in group homes and institutions. Currently, foster homes are needed for sibling groups, adolescents, African American and Latino youth, children with special medical needs, teenage mothers and their babies and LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex) youth. To learn more about some of the youth in need of a foster family, visit the Heart Gallery of Illinois at https://greenlightfamilyservices.org/heartgalleryofil/. Organizations wishing to schedule a virtual or in-person presentation to learn about waiting children, how to become licensed and the adoption process may contact the DCFS Communications Office at 312-814-6847.