CCCS Historical Timeline

1849 - Founded by Chicago's most prominent civic leaders then named Chicago Orphan Asylum. CCCS opens its doors to children whose parents succumbed in the cholera epidemic.

1853 - The Chicago Orphan Asylum builds a new home on two acres at 73 Michigan Avenue.

1856 - The Agency hires its first teacher and begins schooling children.

1860 - During the Civil War, the term "soldier's child" becomes a typical notation in Asylum records.

1870 - The Chicago Orphan Asylum adopts the policy of accepting destitute children without regard to race, religion or nationality. This policy continues to this day.

1871 - During the Great Chicago Fire, the Chicago Orphan Asylum opens its parlors for clothing distribution to those who flee their burning homes in nightclothes.

1882 - The Asylum establishes a school within the agency that includes Kindergarten, Primary, and Secondary grade levels.

1900 - The Agency moves to 5120 South Park Avenue and houses children in small cottages with a caretaker to create a "real family" atmosphere.

1931 - With only 13 children in residence, the agency moves away from institutional care and relocates to 4911 Lake Park Avenue which houses offices, ten beds and a small hospital.

1933 - Placement of children in permanent homes through adoption begins.

1938 - A foster care experiment starts with 17 children placed in private homes.

1949 - There were 100 children in the program, many as a result of work with unmarried mothers.

1949 - The Agency celebrates its 100th Anniversary and changes its name to Chicago Child Care Society (CCCS) to more accurately reflect their services.

1951 - CCCS establishes a Research Department to measure children's progress in foster care homes.

1957 - The agency takes over the Hyde Park Nursery for its Day Care Center. It is later renamed The Child and Family Development Center.

1963 - CCCS moves into its current home at 5467 S. University Avenue in Hyde Park.

1964 - Family Counseling services begin, first as part of the Day Care Center, then as a separate and growing sector of its total programs.

1966 - Building on policy of placing children across religious lines, transracial and single parent adoptions begin.

1967 - The Men's Board and Women's Board are merged and a formalized Research Department with a full-time research director is created.

1970 - CCCS releases a landmark transracial adoption study, which finds that transracial adoptions do not negatively impact the child.

1975 - CCCS celebrates its 125th Anniversary on June 9th. The guest speaker was Dr. John Hilton Knowles, president of "The Rockefeller Foundation".

1975 -CCCS publishes "Children of Circumstance" a history of the first 125 years of Chicago Child Care Society, written by Clare L. McCausland.

1991 - CCCS programs receive The Chicago Community Trust's 1991 James Brown Ford IV Annual Award of Excellence for Outstanding Community Service.

1996 -CCCS acquires Local Area Network (LAN80) also known as the Educational Support Program that provides services to children experiencing academic, behavioral and attendance difficulties.

1999 - In its Sesquicentennial year, CCCS launches a major fundraising campaign to support a broad network of programs and alliances.

1999 - CCCS celebrates its 150th Anniversary on November 9th, at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, honoree Mrs. Natalie Heineman.

1999 -CCCS purchased a town house doors down from the agency to establish additional space for programs.

1999 -The agency acquired the Extended Family Support Program to provide services to adults caring for related children in need of assistance to stabilize the child and/or to obtain guardianship.

2001 - CCCS begins serving homeless children in the Child and Family Development Center.

2003 - The Children and Family Development Center (CFDC) was a accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAYEC).

2004- CCCS acquired the "Next Step" Program from the Junior League of Chicago to provide college readiness mentoring to parenting high school junior and senior girls with one child.

2004 - The agency through the Teen Parenting Initiative program partners with Chicago Public Schools to provide services to pregnant and/or parenting teen moms and dads who are currently enrolled in school.

2005 - The agency was awarded funding for the Safe Life/HIV Prevention Initiative.

2006 - CCCS established an electronic central data base consisting of 2400 former families who participated in an adoption arranged by the agency from 1924 to 1996.

2006 - The Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) were chosen by the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Hospitals as a partner in their Child Care Initiative.

2007 - The Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) installed a new, state of the art playground, courtesy of a grant from KaBOOM! & Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, with matching funds from the University of Chicago.

2007 - The "Next Step" Program expanded to provide mentoring to high school junior and senior dads interested in furthering their education.

2007 - The agency acquires the Teen Alliance Program to provide foster care services to females, between the ages of 14 and 21, who have a history of foster home instability.

2008 - The Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) received the only "four star" rating from the Department of Human Services (DHS) quality rating system.

2009 - CCCS celebrates its 160th Anniversary, on May 6th, at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, honoree Mrs. Judith S. Block.