SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Governor JB Pritzker continues to defend work he says he’s done to try and improve the Department of Children and Family Services, even in the wake of a director who reportedly has been found multiple times in contempt of court, and after the deaths of several children recently, including Navin Jones of Peoria, 8.
Pritzker places at least some of the blame for having to re-build the agency on his predecessor, Bruce Rauner.
“We’ve taken significant action with the Legislature to not only fund new positions, but also make sure they’re providing more beds,” said Pritzker, Tuesday in Springfield. “Remember, under Governor Rauner, 500 beds — these are residential beds — that could have been used now, were done away with.”
Pritzker — saying he’s “deeply concerned” about the agency — says it will take a long time to get those beds back.
Meantime, “When I came in to office, this agency had been decimated — truly,” said Pritzker. “Hundreds of employees short of where it should have been, and it needed to be even greater — the agency — than it was.”
1,000 employees have been hired in the last several years, and while caseloads have gone down, cases in total have gone up.
Marc Smith, DFCS director, has been found in contempt of court in a number of cases. A published report says there will be a hearing Thursday on a 30-year-old consent decree which ordered reforms at the department.
“The death, abuse or neglect of any child Illinois is a tragedy, and the Department of Children and Family Services is continuously working to protect vulnerable children and help strengthen families in crisis,” said Bill McCaffrey, DCFS Director of Communications, in a statement sent to WMBD News along with the timeline of events in Navin Jones’ death. “Under the current administration the child welfare system in Illinois has made significant, measurable progress in the past three years, including hiring more employees, increasing support for our private partners and addressing some of the longstanding challenges facing the department after years of neglect.”
On Wednesday, Republicans in the Illinois House called for an audit of DCFS.
In the case of Jones, whose parents are now charged with murder, there were a number of complaints to a state hotline that turned out unfounded, concerns about custody, living arrangements, an older sibling, and a child who died while an infant.
CLICK HERE to read the DCFS report on Jones (pdf document).
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