Ofelia Casillas

We wanted a home like some couples want children. We saved money for the decade that we had been together. Then we got engaged and began to imagine a home...

An infant died Tuesday amid squalid conditions in an overcrowded Northwest Side apartment, prompting state child welfare officials to take custody of eight other children in the home and place...

The fearless 4-year-old boy with reddish hair, brown eyes and fair skin moved through four foster homes during his short lifetime. He had recently begun to visit with foster parents...

An emergency response center for men that was in danger of closing will remain open, but it will be managed by a different social service agency, officials said. In November,...

Neighbors of a Chicago firefighter charged with sexually assaulting three young children he frequently looked after described him as a kind man, but a bit of a loner. Jose Moreno,...

David Dinger read the Craigslist posting on Monday morning when he got to work: "Anti-Cruelty Society Stole My Dog." "It was harsh," said Dinger, the society's vice president of operations....

Sameere Conn joined a football team instead of a gang. He was known in his Southeast Side neighborhood as a gentle 13-year-old who loved girls, haircuts and keeping the peace,...

As the nationwide mortgage crisis puts the squeeze on homeowners, the Cook County sheriff's office is on pace to evict more people than ever from foreclosed homes. At least it...

Miles away from Hurricane Gustav, Chicago-area emergency workers, pastors and transplanted New Orleans residents were offering help and prayer. The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago decided to open a...