Greenlight Family Services

Greenlight Counseling Services exists to help college sexual assault survivors achieve healing and wholeness and to create a world in which a person’s life is not defined by the devastating experience of sexual assault. Greenlight Counseling provides counseling, advocacy, and other services to the survivors of campus sexual assault. It is Greenlight's goal to provide high-quality, long-term counseling at no charge to the client.

Greenlight Legal Services can help all families become a “legal” family through adoption. Greenlight Legal offers relative, non-relative, second parent, step-parent, adult and DCFS foster parent adoption services. Our lawyers and social workers can help you:
-Understand your options and obligations
-File cases in court
-Conduct a home study
-Assure that you will be informed throughout the process.
The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Adoption Program provides services to families interested in adopting a child who is currently in their care, but who are unable to pay for a legal adoption. If you would like to adopt, but don’t yet have a child in your care, please contact Sandra Casillas by calling our office or emailing her directly at [email protected]

Please call for a free consultation on adoption for your family at 773-728-7800.

Greenlight can help individuals become legal guardians for the disabled adults in their care through our Greenlight Legal services. Adult Guardianship allows the caregiver to make personal and financial decisions for the special needs or disabled adult (aged 18 or older) in their care, which protects them from exploitation.

Greenlight Family Services provides Post-Adoption services for families and children within the welfare system for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services through its Family Matters Program. Post-Adoption back up planning allows families to decide who will care for minor children in the event of illness, death, or incapacity. Back Up Planning may include:

-Meeting with the family to choose a back up person
-Protecting the continuation of the child’s benefits
-Legal follow up until the back up plan is complete in court
-Types of Back Up Planning include: Standby Adoption, Standby Guardianship and Short-Term Guardianship
All post-adoption services are free to any family within the DCFS system. All services are available on a sliding scale to the general public.

A home study is an official court-ready document prepared by a licensed Greenlight Family Services social worker that examines every aspect of a family’s life. It may include finances, health, marital history, background checks, a description of the family’s home and neighborhood, and more. Greenlight has qualified social workers with extensive experience in completing home studies for families who are adopting or who are court mandated to have one completed before being granted visitation or custody. Greenlight is able to complete home studies for adoption agencies and courts within Illinois, or for families who live in Illinois but need a home study completed for a court in another state, territory, or country. Home study services are offered on a sliding scale fee to clients based on household income.

Families are encouraged to check the requirements of the adoption agency or court they are working with before contacting Greenlight. Some adoption agencies and courts have a list of pre-approved organizations that a family may contact for a home study. Greenlight is able to work within any guidelines, requirements, or formats, but some adoption agencies and courts can be firm about having a family select an organization from a pre-approved list.

Greenlight Family Services provides guardianship services to caregivers who are seeking custody of a child that lives in their care. It differs from adoption because the parents’ rights are not terminated. The parents retain rights to visit the child, and in future if they become able to care for the child, the child can be returned to their custody. Greenlight attorneys are respectful of the emotional and urgent circumstances sometimes leading caregivers to file for guardianship. Services are individualized to fit the needs of each unique family that contacts Greenlight.

Legal guardianship will allow the caregiver to make decisions for the child regarding his or her medical care, education, and visitation with birth parents. As the legal guardian, you will have an easier time:

-Retaining custody
-Enrolling them in school
-Consenting to medical treatment they may need
-Applying for public benefits they may be eligible to receive
-Protecting them

All Greenlight Legal services are available on a sliding fee scale.

Greenlight Family Services offers mediation services to adoptive parents, birth parents, and foster parents who are in disagreement with the caseworker assigned to their child within the Illinois DCFS system. These disagreements can be about subsidy payments, visitation, service plans, and much more. Greenlight contracts independent mediators who are not affiliated with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
A mediator is an objective third party who will talk to both parties (ex., biological mother and adoptive parents) and try to come up with an agreement to avoid having to go through another trial. Other people in attendance for the mediation are their mother's court appointed attorney, the children's Guardian At Liteum (the attorney representing their best interest) and the caseworker or anyone else involved in the children's case.

Greenlight has staff members who are licensed DCFS mediators. When the administration of the Administrative Hearings Unit at DCFS makes the decision as to whether the issues raised by the biological mother or father (appellant) are appealable, he or she will send a letter to Greenlight to assign a Greenlight mediator to the case. A mediation will take place on the phone or in person. If the mediation is successful, the biological mom is given more time on any outstanding issues. If not, a hearing date for Termination of Parental Rights is set.

Greenlight Mediation Services are available to the general public on a sliding fee scale.

Greenlight Family Services provides Educational Advocacy for any child adopted from the foster care system.

Each family is assigned a Greenlight caseworker who will make a home visit to assess family and service needs. Greenlight services include: obtaining IEPs, 504 plans, Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs), as well as attending meetings to assist with school transitions and integration. Families may also request assistance with scholarship searches, college readiness, and other school related services.

Greenlight General Advocacy services are available to the general public on a sliding fee scale.

Greenlight Family services recognizes that the illness, death or incapacitation of a legal guardian can create uncertainty for the placement of the child or disabled adult they are caring for.

Standby guardianship is a form of back-up planning that makes it possible for the legal guardian to select an individual or couple that they can trust to care for their ward if the need arises. It is a legal process that allows the backup caregiver to easily gain legal custody.

Greenlight Legal services offers standby guardianship services on its own, or to families who are also completing adoption or guardianship services with Greenlight on a sliding fee scale.