(3) who provides the care for no more than 6 children, except the Director of Children and Family Services, pursuant to Department regulations, may waive the numerical limitation of foster children who may be cared for in a foster family home for any of the following reasons to allow: (i) a parenting youth in foster care to remain with the child of the parenting youth; (ii) siblings to remain together; (iii) a child with an established meaningful relationship with the family to remain with the family; or (iv) a family with special training or skills to provide care to a child who has a severe disability. The family's or relative's own children, under 18 years of age, shall be included in determining the maximum number of children served. For purposes of this Section, a "relative" includes any person, 21 years of age or over, other than the parent, who (i) is currently related to the child in any of the following ways by blood or adoption: grandparent, sibling, great-grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin, great-uncle, or great-aunt; or (ii) is the spouse of such a relative; or (iii) is a child's step-father, step-mother, or adult step-brother or step-sister; or (iv) is a fictive kin; "relative" also includes a person related in any of the foregoing ways to a sibling of a child, even though the person is not related to the child, when the child and its sibling are placed together with that person. For purposes of placement of children pursuant to Section 7 of the Children and Family Services Act and for purposes of licensing requirements set forth in Section 4 of this Act, for children under the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, after a parent signs a consent, surrender, or waiver or after a parent's rights are otherwise terminated, and while the child remains in the custody or guardianship of the Department, the child is considered to be related to those to whom the child was related under this Section prior to the signing of the consent, surrender, or waiver or the order of termination of parental rights.
The term "foster family home" includes homes receiving children from any State-operated institution for child care; or from any agency established by a municipality or other political subdivision of the State of Illinois authorized to provide care for children outside their own homes. The term "foster family home" does not include an "adoption-only home" as defined in Section 2.23 of this Act. The types of foster family homes are defined as follows:
(a) "Boarding home" means a foster family home which receives payment for regular full-time care of a child or children.(b) "Free home" means a foster family home other than an adoptive home which does not receive payments for the care of a child or children.(c) "Adoptive home" means a foster family home which receives a child or children for the purpose of adopting the child or children, but does not include an adoption-only home.(d) "Work-wage home" means a foster family home which receives a child or children who pay part or all of their board by rendering some services to the family not prohibited by the Child Labor Law of 2024 or by standards or regulations of the Department prescribed under this Act. The child or children may receive a wage in connection with the services rendered the foster family.(e) "Agency-supervised home" means a foster family home under the direct and regular supervision of a licensed child welfare agency, of the Department of Children and Family Services, of a circuit court, or of any other State agency which has authority to place children in child care facilities, and which receives no more than 8 children, unless of common parentage, who are placed and are regularly supervised by one of the specified agencies.(f) "Independent home" means a foster family home, other than an adoptive home, which receives no more than 4 children, unless of common parentage, directly from parents, or other legally responsible persons, by independent arrangement and which is not subject to direct and regular supervision of a specified agency except as such supervision pertains to licensing by the Department.(g) "Host home" means an emergency foster family home under the direction and regular supervision of a licensed child welfare agency, contracted to provide short-term crisis intervention services to youth served under the Comprehensive Community-Based Youth Services program, under the direction of the Department of Human Services. The youth shall not be under the custody or guardianship of the Department pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.