Regenerations
We all deserve a second chance.
Help us give one to a young person.
All youth in our communities have worth and value no matter their challenges and mistakes. Today, there are too many youth who have fallen through the cracks because we, as a society, have decided that they are unworthy of supports and assistance.
Youth Served
LCFS designed the Regenerations program, in partnership with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and in consultation with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, to work with adolescents who were involved with DCFS and the criminal justice systems AND were staying in detention facilities and/or jails months after they were scheduled for release because they had nowhere to go.
Regenerations is part of LCFS’ foster care program and serves youth age 12-21 who are in foster care and involved with the juvenile or criminal justice system. Youth referred to the program have faced many traumas and challenges, often leading to them making wrong turns in their lives. Thankfully, with the proper support systems in place, they can get their lives back on the right track.
Regenerations staff work to build relationships and supports for the youth, their identified caregivers and their families to transition the youth back to the community, strengthen stability and minimize recidivism.
Services
Program Objectives/Vision
Program Success/Impact
Foster Parents Needed
Community Partners NeededServicesOnce a youth is referred to the Regenerations program by DCFS, LCFS’ staff meet with the young person prior to release from the juvenile/correctional facility and begin to build a trusting relationship, identify supports, discover individual skills and aspirations, and engage in identifying possible caregivers. Together they build a collaborative plan for success, which begins by focusing on placing the youth with family or in a family-like setting instead of a residential facility. If the teen is unable to identify a relative or adult with whom to live, they are placed with a licensed LCFS foster family.
Once the youth is living in a safe environment, he/she is enrolled in school or vocational training. Regenerations staff arrange for intensive wraparound services (for all involved) in order to transition the teen into the community.
Services may include:
- Intensive care coordination
- Mental health services
- Home and community-based services
- In-home supports to caregivers and youth
- Crisis intervention
- Access to educational and recreational activities
- Work opportunities
LCFS listens to the youth and their families and adjusts services to meet their needs. The youth is also assigned an advocate. This individual builds a trusting relationship and is available 24 hours a day (as is all Regenerations staff ) to both the youth and caregivers.
Download Regenerations Fact Sheet to learn more.
Program Objectives/VisionThe Regenerations program was developed based on the premise that dually-involved youth can be effectively served in a family setting with the appropriate services and supports provided by a team. LCFS wanted to help these youth by breaking their cycle of institutionalization with an alternative solution that is both impactful and cost-effective.
Regenerations’ overall goal is to develop a strong support network for the youth (and their families) to assist them in being contributing, stable members of their communities long after LCFS’ involvement has ended.
Program objectives to meet this goal include:
- Get youth out of detention and into a placement faster
- Place youth in a safe and nurturing family or family-like environment
- Reduce placement of youth in residential care or other facilities
- Build on family support
- Increase reunification with family members
- Reduce recidivism in the juvenile/criminal justice system
- Increase engagement in productive life activities (e.g., a ending school, vocational
training, employment, recreational, etc.) - Increase youth’s sense of well-being and life focus
- Keep the youth safe
LCFS sees value in expanding the Regenerations program to serve more youth in need.
The vision for expansion includes the addition of a pre-Regenerations program in order to offer youth with juvenile/criminal justice system involvement the same resources and supports without them being involved with the child welfare system. That is, meeting youth where they are at, at any given me, and providing them the tools to live safe and meaningful lives.
Program Success/Impact“LCFS protected me in many ways, but the main way is they kept me with a place to stay. I had somewhere to go because of LCFS.” – Regenerations Youth
Regenerations is a strengths-based program that requires outside-the-box thinking and
practices. The work is about building and maintaining relationships, being advocates with youth and on their behalf, and being available when and how needed. Few programs have been designed specifically to address this population’s diverse needs, but LCFS is an innovator in the field and has shown significant positive outcomes.
Shorter wait for release:
averaged 42 days Regenerations vs. 116 days Comparison Group
Youth NOT placed into residential care:
100% Regenerations vs. 37% Comparison Group
In the program for at least a year, experienced less than 2 placements per year:
98% Regenerations vs. 83% all Illinois DCFS youth
91% Regenerations youth avoided re-incarceration in a state facility
Regenerations received the 2019 Council on Accreditation (COA) Innovative Practice Award.
Download LCFS’ Regenerations Impact Sheet
Foster Parents Needed“As a foster parent, LCFS gives me the support I need to give back to a child who needs my care.”
– LCFS Regenerations Foster Parent
Do you remember being a teenager and the struggles, issues and challenges you faced? Who helped you through that difficult me? If you believe in second chances and have a
commitment to adolescents, LCFS would love to have you as a Regenerations foster parent.
LCFS is looking for families who can provide a supportive and nurturing home to older youth in the Regenerations program. Foster parents for this program must be willing to work with adolescents and actively participate in their child and family teams. LCFS provides a variety of in-home supports to Regenerations foster parents and youth. Help equip young people, who need someone to believe in them, make the right choices.
Click here for details on the process to become a foster parent or contact 800-363-LCFS or reach out to LCFS via our Contact Us form.
Community Partners NeededYouth need positive experiences and opportunities to learn. The Regenerations program is looking for community partners, within the Chicagoland region, who would be interested in providing youth with different supports such as vocational training, job opportunities, recreational activities, legal assistance, etc. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a Regenerations community partner, reach out to LCFS via our contact form.
Our Clients. Their Stories.
Be inspired by people telling their own stories of changing their lives for the better with the help of LCFS’ programs and services.
Cyvarius' Story
“LCFS is like a second family, when you are away from your real family. They keep you, the same way your family keeps you out of trouble…They make you work harder…”
Kenneth’s Story
“LCFS protected me in many ways, but the main way is they kept me with a place to stay.”
Amaranta’s Story
“LCFS taught me what family is really about. They turned my life around in a lot of ways. All the services have helped me grow.”
