A foster home is not chosen at random. An agency selects it, and that agency is supposed to check it before placing a child there. When a child is harmed in that home, the law can look past the individual who did it to the agency that made the choice.
That idea is at the center of most Illinois foster care abuse claims. You do not need to have reported the abuse, and nobody needs to have been charged. A civil claim asks 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, reviews these cases. He is registered with the Illinois bar (6319808) and was admitted in 2014.
What negligent placement looks at
Negligent placement is the theory that most often carries these claims. It focuses on the agency's conduct. What did the agency know about the home before the placement? What checks did it make? What did it do when a concern was raised afterward?
In practice, several theories usually run together, and negligent placement is rarely the only one. Which one fits is a question about your facts, not about which category your case falls into.
Who answers for it
These claims are usually brought against DCFS or a licensed private agency, rather than only against the individual. The responsible body may be the State, acting through DCFS, or a private agency working under contract with DCFS. Identifying which one made and supervised the placement is the first thing to check.
That answer also decides where the claim goes. A claim involving a DCFS placement is brought against the State in the Illinois Court of Claims, with its own filing requirements and damages limits. A claim involving a private agency placement is brought against that agency in the ordinary courts.
Common Questions Around Negligent Placement Claims
Do I have to have reported the abuse? No. A civil claim requires no police report, no charge, and no conviction. Most people we speak with never reported.
Will my identity be protected? Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record. We explain them before anything is filed.
I only remember pieces of it. That is ordinary. These cases are built from institutional records rather than from a complete account.
What happens when you contact us
Nothing starts because you ask a question. You speak with a person, not an intake script, and you do not have to describe what happened. 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 then tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, it ends there, and what you shared stays confidential. If you go ahead, we carry the filings, deadlines, records, and the institution's insurers. Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
Call (708) 671-6858 for a free, confidential case review.
