Mission Statement

CSS empowers youth and families in Cook County by offering essential programs designed to close critical service gaps and build pathways to stability and dignity.

 

We provide

• Financial assistance grants to help prevent eviction and housing instability

• Housing search support for youth facing homelessness or instability

• Teen parent support programs tailored to young families navigating early parenthood

• A dedicated teen help clinic offering judgment-free care and resources

• Post-foster care support, easing the transition into self-sufficiency

• A hygiene clinic, ensuring basic needs are met so youth have confidence and dignity

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Why Our Services Matter

• During the 2023–24 school year, Chicago Public Schools alone identified 26,800 students experiencing homelessness, representing 8.3% of enrollment, the highest number on record an 51% increase in just one year.

• Over 4,000 Black children were in foster care in Cook County as of February 2022; Black youth make up 70% of the county’s foster care population, while being only 23% of the total population.

• Nationally, approximately 1 in 4 youth who age out of foster care become homeless between ages 19 and 21, and less than 3% earn a college degree.

• Local youth in Cook County report that over half of homelessness cases begin with entrance into the child welfare system; nearly 25% experienced family homelessness at some point