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DCFS starts de-privatizing program after Tribune exposes problems

Wednesday, Oct 25, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Trib

Following a Tribune report on deaths of children in a privatized child welfare program, a state Department of Children and Family Services official said Tuesday that the agency has started taking back some of those cases from contract agencies and will handle them in-house.

Nora Harms-Pavelski, the agency’s deputy director of child protection, also disclosed at a legislative hearing Tuesday that agency administrators are now getting immediate reports on any instance of mistreatment of a child in the “intact family services” program, among other reforms.

The program, which serves roughly 2,700 children statewide, provides counseling, resources and oversight to keep families together instead of removing children from their home and placing them with strangers.

A surge in deaths began in 2012 after DCFS completely privatized the program, putting the care of families in the hands of nonprofit groups but doing little to evaluate the quality of their work, give them guidance and resources, or hold them accountable when children were hurt or put at risk, DCFS officials acknowledged in response to the Tribune investigation.

       

21 Comments
  1. - Perrid - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:12 am:

    I’m reminded of the Monty Python parrot sketch. “If you want anything done in this country you have to complain til you’re blue in the face.”


  2. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:16 am:

    An odd reaction by DCFS. The Child Protection division has, at least recently has been understaffed. To whom will the Department assign these cases. Also, “they”, the Department failed to provide resources and oversight, so they’ll bring the cases back inside rather than provide resources and oversight of private agencies. With the Department’s own track record of weak internal oversight coupled with the staffing challenges this will create, this strikes me as a solution that appears as though the Department is doing something but in reality it appeases the public’s cry to DO something.


  3. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:23 am:

    I’d rather see them enact rules or propose legislation that deals with the issues in that last sentence above. How about holding these agencies accountable? There will still be children in private care (mostly specialized children), and problems will continue.


  4. - Ahoy! - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:28 am:

    This article did not really go deep enough into the real issues at DCFS. DCFS was often the problem for many of these non-profits. Thinking that they will somehow now be the magical solution is just plain stupid.


  5. - fed up - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:39 am:

    DCFS knew this was a bad idea when they did it. And none of this work is easy or cheap.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-dcfs-intact-families-20120904-story.html


  6. - Sir Reel - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 11:40 am:

    State government is like the car with its tires spinning and squealing, but not moving.

    Activity doesn’t automatically mean progress.


  7. - Ghost - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 12:25 pm:

    For decades the wealthy GOPers keep telling us how private entities can do govt better and cheaper. So far the lottery project cost the state many times o as what it paid Internally to run the operation without any result. DCFS program is running worse as well. These programs all paid huge salaries to a couple management people, way more then state workers cost, and then hire low paying folks to cover the cost gap and generate worse results.

    So state pays 100 middle class wages and does a better job. Private sector pays 20 high wage jobs and 80 low wage jobs and performs horribly… how does the state benefit by privatizing? Seems like we shrink middle class jobs to make a couple people rich and get worse results.


  8. - RNUG - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 12:42 pm:

    == The Child Protection division has, at least recently has been understaffed. To whom will the Department assign these cases. ==

    I was wondering the same thing. How many new caseworkers will they be hiring?


  9. - Generic Drone - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 12:53 pm:

    Privatization does three things. It elevates the need to make a profit over the moral mandate, it eliminates transparency because private industry make decisions behind closed doors, and it removes accountability because private sector folks can go out of business leaving the public in the lurch.


  10. - don the legend - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 12:57 pm:

    Perhaps the Rauner’s Deputy Governor can be sent over to DCFS since her skills should well equip her for the challenge. She could whip those Rauner, so called Afscammy workers, into shape.


  11. - Union thug - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 1:25 pm:

    This is another example of the problems with privatization. When the unions fight against it this is why. I doubt the state saved anything with this just like the lottery


  12. - Ahoy! - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 1:58 pm:

    To the anti-privatization folks on here, these are non-profits who frankly do a better job than DCEO staff. Privatization on this is not the issue, the issue was DCEO management.


  13. - Generic Drone - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 2:12 pm:

    Ahoy. This is exactly why privatization is wrong. It is indeed the issue. Just because you are in favor of privatization, doesn’t make it right or the solution needed.


  14. - Union thug - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 3:50 pm:

    Ahoy. You lost me on that. What doe DCEO have to do with this? This is a huge job sent to private agencies and children started dying.


  15. - Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 4:36 pm:

    Privatisation is not always right and not always wrong.

    Difficult cases should be kept in-house to keep accountability clear. It would help if the union would have a way to make sure only the best workers are assigned to these cases.


  16. - Union thug - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 5:33 pm:

    Work assignments are done by management.


  17. - Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 5:50 pm:

    UT.
    Have you never dealt with the bidding process? Or had a marginal worker?

    It took us 3 years to fire one worker. The union steward was happy to see that person gone.


  18. - Chicago Barb - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 8:34 pm:

    I’m not sure you understand how nonprofits work. The state contracts don’t cover the cost of providing the service, so nonprofits fund raise to cover the difference. That is how the state saves money. Nonprofit salaries are not competitive with private industry and indeed lose staff to managed care organizations that pay much higher salaries.


  19. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 8:47 pm:

    @ Union thug- Aren’t supervisors i.e. management now part of the collective bargaining unit?

    @Chicago Barb- Your “don’t cover the cost of providing service” is an over-generalization. That is not true of all contracts. Done right, the Intact Services contracts were relatively rich. Management of case flow and identification of cases appropriate for Intact Services by the Department was lacking from the outset

    /


  20. - Union thug - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 9:00 pm:

    Some are now yes. They are not the one that makes the personal decisions.


  21. - Union thug - Wednesday, Oct 25, 17 @ 9:14 pm:

    LBM. Till recently i was a steward. The personnel rules are designed to keep personal and political issues out of tje equation. Evey case that I delt with having to do with personnel issues and won was usually due to managment not being managers. Let a bad employee be a bad employee for a year with no action then try to fire him all of a sudden and you gonna lose. Some managers stewards new before meeting the member was in a bad spot. That manager did the job and had papers to back it up.


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