Illinois DCFS Events for Parents with Child-Welfare-Involvement

These Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS) sponsored events are for Parents with Child-Welfare-Involvement. See full schedule below.

Contact Us To Learn More

Upcoming Events for Parents with Child-Welfare-Involvement

These are voluntary family support events that Be Strong Families provides as an additional resource for Parents with Child-Welfare-Involvement to choose to attend. After completing an event, participants will be sent a certificate of completion via email within 10-14 business days after the event takes place; this certificate can be shared with your caseworker.

Participants can also contact us to request certificates of completion be resent to them via email or as a PDF attachment. If you are missing a certificate of completion from a Be Strong Families event and need the certificate immediately, contact us and we will prioritize the request.

May 2026

Online Café Series: The Road to Reunification

Online Parent Café: Encouraged to Feel, Free to Heal (Evolving as a Family)
Thursday, May 28, 2026
6:00 - 7:30 pm CT
Register Here
Join us each month for an online Café all about honoring the complex and powerful journey of reunification. In this May Café, we focus on children’s emotional needs through Encouraged to Feel, Free to Heal (Evolving as a Family). Be Strong Families Parent Cafés create empowering and supportive spaces for parents involved in child welfare to deeply reflect on their parenting journeys, enhance the way the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors, and actively participating in peer to peer learning to support their reunification process. By prioritizing the voices of parents, fostering culturally responsive dialogue, and collaborating with the system, these Cafés champion Illinois’ child-welfare goals of meaningful family engagement, timely permanency, and improved outcomes for children and families.

This Café will:

  • Strengthen Protective Factors to support reunification and long-term family stability

  • Build and maintain healthy social connections and community supports

  • Increase self-awareness and emotional resilience during the child welfare journey

  • Develop confidence in navigating services and advocating for family needs

  • Deepen understanding of children’s emotional and developmental needs

  • Promote meaningful, respectful engagement with systems and caseworkers

  • Create space for healing, shared learning, and celebration of progress

To register on Zoom, click the event name on the schedule above. Have questions? Want to host IDCFS-sponsored in-person or online direct services for parents with child-welfare-involvement? Contact Greishen Rodriguez or Andrew Hitchcock.

Available Events & Trainings for Parents with Child Welfare Involvement

Below are descriptions of all available Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS) events and trainings offered by Be Strong Families. These IDCFS-sponsored events are for Parents with Child-Welfare-Involvement. To register, click the event’s name on the schedule above.

All IDCFS trainings are available in English and Spanish.

  • Parent Cafés are physically and emotionally safe spaces where parents and caregivers talk about the challenges and victories of raising a family. Through individual deep self-reflection and peer-to-peer learning, participants explore their strengths, learn about the Protective Factors, and create strategies from their own wisdom and experiences to help strengthen their families.

    There are three types of Cafés:‍ ‍

    • Parent and Dads Cafés based on the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors.

    • #WoWTalk (Words of Wisdom) Cafés for youth and emerging adults based on the YouthThrive™ Protective and Promotive Factors.

    • Journey to Vitality Cafés—including Recovering Together Cafés—based on the domains of holistic vitality.

    Format: Online or In-person

    Total Training Hours: 1.5 - 2 hours

  • Los Cafés para Padres son espacios física y emocionalmente seguros donde los padres y cuidadores hablan sobre los desafíos y las victorias de criar una familia. A través de la autorreflexión individual profunda y el aprendizaje entre pares, los participantes exploran sus fortalezas, aprenden sobre los factores de protección y crean estrategias a partir de su propia sabiduría y experiencias para ayudar a fortalecer a sus familias.

    Hay tres tipos de Cafés:

    • Cafés para padres y papás basados en los Factores de Protección de Strengthening Families™.

    • #WoWTalk (Palabras de Sabiduría) Cafés para jóvenes y adultos emergentes basados en los Factores de Protección y Promoción de YouthThrive™.

    • Cafés Jornada a la Vitalidad, incluidos los cafés Recuperándonos Juntos, basados en los dominios de la vitalidad holística.

    Formato: En línea o en Persona

    Total de Horas de Entrenamiento: 1.5 - 2 horas

  • Get on the Fast Track is an experiential education and support series that provides practical tools and strategies for parents with child welfare involvement to reunify their families. It begins with a 4-hour highly experiential and psychodynamic workshop that surfaces, validates, and then temporarily neutralizes negative emotions related to being involved with the child welfare system. After acknowledging the stress that is inherent in the process, participants brainstorm positive and negative ways to handle the stress. The last hour of the workshop is devoted to an empowerment-based method for parents to take control of their destiny and their struggle to get their children back at home. The 3-S concept (Strategy–Strength–Support) is shared. Parents gain practical knowledge, insight, and conviction about their potential to effectively lead the reunification process. All IDCFS participants receive the complimentary Be Strong Families’ publication the Get Real Guide to Getting Your Kids Back.

    There are four follow-up or stand-alone 1.5-hour supportive workshops on the following topics:

    • Social Connections

    • Caseworker Relationship

    • Visitation

    • Relationship with the Caregiver

    Format: In-person or Online

    Total Training Hours: 10 hours: 1 introduction (4 hours) and 4 sessions (1.5 hours each)

  • This 8-week parent education series is based on the Living the Protective Factors Playbook which contains 49 days of activities and weekly themes for parents to learn about, explore, and build the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors at home. Every week for two hours, parents come together in a fun, inspirational and educational environment to share their experiences and weekly Playbook homework, learn from each other, gain insight from the group and the group leader, feel supported in their parenting, expand their repertoire of parenting strategies, and gain a deeper understanding of what gets in the way of being a strong, loving family-including childhood trauma.

    Format: Online or In-Person

    Total Training Hours: 16 hours