Illinois Families Now and Forever

              2005 • Volume I Winter Edition
FAMILIES
Now and
F o re v e r
Families by Foster Care, Adoption and Guardianship
From the
DCFS
Director
Bryan Samuels
By now, you have likely heard me talk
about the importance of education.
Recently, I was able to go beyond the plans
to announce some very real and very posi-tive
action. On a stage with Jesse Ruiz,
Chair of the Illinois State Board of
Education and Arne Duncan, Chicago
Public Schools CEO, we pledged to work
together for the benefit of youth in DCFS
care who attend Illinois public schools.
As a first step, DCFS will create an
Education Passport to keep all of a child’s
school-related information in a database.
This information will be kept current and
will stay with the child regardless of place-ment.
If a move does need to occur, we also
announced an agreement with CPS to main-tain
the child’s school of origin.
Additionally, students in special education
will receive extra support through literacy
intervention, positive behavior models and
tutoring.
Statewide, ISBE and the Department have
asked the community organizations within
Local Area Networks to re-focus their
resources toward programs to reduce the
number of suspensions and expulsions of
DCFS students.
Like a good parent, it is our responsibility to
be sure that our youth have every chance to
be successful in school.
With tax season upon us, Illinois fos-ter
and adoptive parents should be
aware of all the tax benefits avail-able
to them. Each year DCFS works
with the Center for Economic
Progress to produce the Tax Booklet
for Illinois Foster and A d o p t i v e
Parents. A m o n g
the useful infor-mation
are
details on the
Adoption Ta x
Credit, which
provides as much
as $10,390 credit
for 2004.
Applying the
credit could
result in a full
refund of all
taxes withheld.
This refund can add up to thousands
of dollars to adoptive parents. Most
adoptions made through DCFS
involve children who qualify for the
maximum credit. Any unused por-tion
of the credit can be carried for-ward
for five years. For example, if a
tax-payer only uses $3,000 of credit
this year, the remaining $7,390 can
be used in the following years.
Parents whose employers provide
adoption assistance benefits can
exclude up to $10,390 of income per
child. To claim either of the above,
adoptive parents must submit form
8839 with their tax return. If any
adoptive parents did not take the
credit or encountered difficulty in
obtaining the
credit, they can
call the Center for
E c o n o m i c
Progress at 312-
630-0284.
The Child Ta x
Credit of $1,000
per child is anoth-er
important tax
benefit. Since
adopted children
generally may be
claimed as
dependents, those under age 17
would qualify for the Child Ta x
Credit. In the case of foster children,
remember they must live with the
taxpayer for the full year to be
claimed as a dependent.
Foster parents should also maintain
records for expenditures made on
behalf of foster children. T h e
amount spent over the board
Continued on page 2
2004 booklet outlines foster
care and adoption tax benefits
With tax season
upon us, Illinois
foster and adop-tive
parents should
be aware of all the
tax benefits avail-able
to them.