ACLU, legislators demand action from DCFS
Friday, Nov 2, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here and here. From the Tribune…
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is threatening to haul the state’s child welfare agency into court next week if it doesn’t take immediate action to ensure kids are safe inside an Uptown psychiatric hospital that has seen a rise in complaints alleging youths were sexually and physically abused due to lax supervision and improper staff conduct.
The group wants the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to put an immediate hold on future admissions of the agency’s young patients into Chicago Lakeshore Hospital, as well as allow for an independent investigation of recent problems there. Four state lawmakers also called on DCFS to seek an outside review of the hospital.
In addition, the ACLU is asking DCFS to transfer the agency’s youths out of the private hospital if a more suitable facility can be found. And the organization urged DCFS staff to conduct daily unannounced visits. […]
The ACLU, which has a long-running federal class-action lawsuit against DCFS on behalf of children in the state’s foster system, gave the agency until the end of Friday to respond or it plans to ask U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso to intervene, said Heidi Dalenberg, the civil rights group’s general counsel.
* ProPublica Illinois…
State lawmakers Thursday called for an independent investigation of a Chicago psychiatric hospital, citing a ProPublica Illinois report that found allegations of sexual assault and abuse of children, as well as safety violations related to suicidal patients.
In a letter to the head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, three state lawmakers said they support the recommendation of DCFS’ acting inspector general, Meryl Paniak, to appoint an independent reviewer to go into Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital and examine the agency’s response to incidents there. […]
State Reps. Sara Feigenholtz and Greg Harris and state Sen. Heather Steans, all Chicago Democrats, expressed in the letter their “serious concern” about reported incidents involving “harm to youth” at the hospital. They urged Beverly “B.J.” Walker, DCFS’ acting director, to “move swiftly” in naming an independent reviewer.
That person, they wrote, should be appointed to “evaluate not only the cases at Chicago Lakeshore and the response by DCFS, but also to conduct a thorough review of quality of care and adherence to all relevant laws, policies, and procedures.” In addition, the review should include recommendations on how to “guarantee the safety and best possible outcomes” for children at the hospital now or in the future.
State Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, said separately on Thursday that she is drafting a second letter to DCFS reiterating the need for an independent investigation and asking DCFS to ensure the process takes no longer than 60 days.
- Chicago_Downstater - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 11:24 am:
I live right around there. Is there anything locals can do to support these efforts? I’m definitely contacting my alderman, but I don’t know if city government can do anything. And yes, I’ll google around, but I know a lot of you folks are far more knowledgeable than myself.
- wordslinger - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 11:33 am:
Thank goodness for those willing to mix it up every day for the least among us. You’ll know them by their actions, not their words.
Like Mother Jones said, pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.
- illini - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 11:39 am:
This is just another example of why I feel good about making a small monthly contribution to the ACLU. And I have been doing this for 40 years.
- Earnest - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 11:41 am:
I don’t think any group out there has done a summary, but I would say the vast majority of improvements of the care of people, whether in the criminal justice system, DCFS or community providers of human services have happened due to lawsuits. This week has had mentions of the lawsuits around treatment of persons with mental illness in prisons and a number of lawsuits against DCFS. I’m trying to think of anything the state has done to improve the developmental disabilities service system that wasn’t due to legal pressure from the Ligas lawsuit. Rauner expressed frustration at the limitations put on him by the consent decrees he inherited. It doesn’t make him any worse than previous governors in this area, and he’ll add his own contributions for the governor in the next term of office. Effective executive leadership can help to some degree, but it will take resources to bring us up to average.
- Norbert Macuga - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 1:22 pm:
I think one of the under reported pieces of this whole problem is the dramatic cuts to and evisceration of social services in Illinois over the last few years. There is no where else for these kids to go so they are stuck for MONTHS in a hospital. ProPublica reported on what that does to a child. The state has 450 fewer beds at psych hospitals and I think this one is one of the last in the state. We’re also dead last (or close to it) in the country for Medicaid reimbursements. Our state really needs to step it up and fund mental health services especially at the local level. I recall that psych. leadership grants were cut during the budget standoff. Not sure if they were restored but I bet a lot of places closed their doors in the interim.
- Last Bull Moose - Friday, Nov 2, 18 @ 2:42 pm:
All four Directors during my time at DCFS tried to cut the use of psychiatric hospitals. They tried hardest to ed having children stay beyond medical necessity.
Even the one good director had little traction on this issue. There were no real alternatives.
More money might help, but the real shortage is of foster parents who are willing and able to care for these children.
They may need to go to specialized group homes, which sound too much like orphanages to many of the staff.