After a multi-year process, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is moving children in its care to a managed care health plan – the YouthCare MCO – on September 1, 2020.  The plan is now responsible for overseeing the provision of health care for these children. 

We are concerned about the process and the timing of this move – especially in the midst of a pandemic. We have worked hard with DCFS to assure that the system is ready, but we know that this is a serious change that can affect the lives and health of youth in state care. Our goal is to assure that this transition is as smooth and safe as possible for all impacted families. 

We encourage parents and foster parents to report any problems they encounter with the new managed care system. We need to know about these issues to make the system work efficiently. 

 

If you are a parent or foster parent and experience problems with the system:

  • Please immediately contact the 24-hour YouthCare MCO helpline at 844-289-2264 (TTY: 711)

  • You can also call your DCFS caseworker, or call the DCFS Youth Advocacy office at 800-232-3798 (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mon. – Fri.)

If you don’t get the help you need, the ACLU wants to know: email us at DCFS-MCO@aclu-il.org, or call 312-854-9805.