To raise awareness about the many children in Illinois who need permanent families, the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services hosted Adoption Day on November 18, 2016. Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Judge Sharon M. Sullivan, Presiding Judge of the County Division, permitted media the rare opportunity to photograph ceremonial adoption proceedings in the Richard J. Daley Center on the eve of National Adoption Day. Nine families finalized their cases, which included the adoptions of 10 children and one adult.
For one Uptown couple, this Thanksgiving means family, November 24, 2016, Leonor Vivanco, Chicago Tribune.
A new way to resolve conflicts that invests in the future of nonviolent offenders, their victims, and the community is being developed by the Circuit Court of Cook County. See below for more information about the first ever community court for restorative justice slated to open in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood in 2017.
ABC-7 Newsviews, May 15, 2016 WTTW Chicago Tonight, May 16, 2016
Community court offers hope for healing, May 31, 2016, Lauraann Wood, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Press Release: Circuit Court wins grant to create Community Court, April 14, 2016