The number of children in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services hit a peak, in 1997, of 52,000. That prompted a massive effort to get more of them back with their own families or with adoptive parents. The push succeeded in bringing down the number of wards in the state child-welfare system — to 14,945 statewide this year. Richard Calica, outgoing DCFS director, wants to cut that figure by another 25 percent, getting more kids under 5 years old out of foster care. A look at the number of wards of the state the past 10 years: