Permanency Plans Protection Children (Illinois Emphasis)

Sarah Unsicker (Attorney at Law, Illinois) has recently published her article entitled Permanency Planning: Protecting Children from the Loss of Their Parents, 95 Ill. B.J. 656 (2007).

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to her article:

Parents want the best for their children, but they often fail to plan for the unexpected. One of the worst things that can happen to a child is the loss of a parent.

Parents can soften the blow by creating a permanency plan for their children. A permanency plan is a future custody plan for a child, to be implemented following the parent’s death or incapacity.

Illinois law makes available a wide array of permanency plans for Illinois parents. Besides traditional guardianships and wills, Illinois allows for standby guardianship, short-term guardianship, and standby adoption. These nontraditional permanency plans were developed in response to the AIDS crisis, but Illinois does not limit their use to terminally ill parents.