Auditor General Report Blasts DCFS Performance
DCFS Director Marc Smith.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
Republicans in the General Assembly are calling for the resignation of DCFS Director Marc Smith after a scathing report issued by the Illinois Auditor General Thursday.
The audit found DCFS conducted home checks before children were returned to their parents in just 2 percent of cases in 2020. The audit also showed the agency failed to provide follow-up after a child leaves the agency’s care. The report also showed children in DCFS care were not receiving necessary medical care and immunizations.
Republicans have been critical of DCFS performance under the Pritzker administration, including Director Marc Smith, who has been held in contempt of court nine times in recent months for failure to follow court orders related to child care.
“This report is as bad as it looks,” said Rep. Chris Bos (R-Lake Zurich). Before being elected to the House, Bos worked with a non-profit working to keep children from sexual exploitation. “This report shows a complete lack and disregard for the children and families that have to work and interact with the DCFS system. The findings in this report are 100% the failures of the Pritzker administration and its borderline incompetence at this point.”
DCFS Spokesman Bill McCaffery issued a statement Thursday saying the agency is working on improvements.
“The Department of Children and Family Services has taken aggressive measures to improve the services and care provided to youth in care during the past three years,” he said. “We have trained thousands of workers, expanded resources to support the child welfare system and addressed the many hiring and staffing challenges facing child welfare organizations.”
Bos called the agency response a “non-answer.”
He says Director Smith needs to resign from his post.
The legislature increased funding for DCFS by $250 million in the budget year beginning July 1. Bos said he wants to be sure the state isn’t just “throwing money” at a problem.
“The question I want to ask before the easy answer of ‘just give them more money’ is what did we do with the last increase given [about $100 million last year]? And what impact did it have,” Bos asked. “Instead of just throwing more money into DCFS, are there other partnership organizations around the state that we can work with, or in conjunction with, to solve and to handle some of these problems? Let’s look at the systemic problems that are happening within the system and figure out how to solve those. It may mean more money. It may mean broader partnerships. Or it may simply mean more efficient, effective operations.”
The Auditor General review was released a week after an audit of the 36 deaths at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home in a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The report blasted the Pritzker administration for its slow response despite multiple requests from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for help.