The absolute mess at DCFS gets worse
Tuesday, Jan 7, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Hannah Meisel…
The number of children who died between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 after having prior contact with the Department of Children and Family Services rose 25 percent, according to a new report published Wednesday by the agency’s inspector general.
DCFS Inspector General Meryl Paniak called the deaths of 123 children in the 2019 fiscal year — up from 98 — “disheartening,” especially given “that many of the problems I identify here have been identified before, both by me and my predecessor.” […]
New in this year’s annual inspector general’s report is data on risk factors present in a child’s home environment prior to his or her death, including substance abuse, domestic violence or mental health issues. In the vast majority of the 123 deaths examined by the report, one, two or all three risk factors were present before a child died.
Paniak said while it’s not surprising that these risk factors would show up in many child death cases, the 2020 report will be a starting point for the agency to continually track those risk factors.
Paniak also pointed out that in all of the cases considered “high profile,” including AJ, there were investigations of cuts, welts or bruises on children who later died that were determined “unfounded.”
The full IG report is here…
As I submit this report, I am disheartened that many of the problems I identify here have been identified before, both by me and my predecessor. I recently reviewed a 2004 article1 which addressed the same child welfare issues I highlight in this report –
• Children killed after DCFS left them with abusive parents or their partners
• Children taken from their parents to sleep on the floors in DCFS offices
• Children kept beyond medical necessity in psychiatric hospitals. (Even earlier, in 1996, a neglect
petition was filed against DCFS for leaving children in psych hospitals when they were ready for
discharge.)
• Lack of foster homes and services for children and families whose first language is not English
• Investigators who take shortcuts that lead to tragedy.
* AP…
The dense 384-page report made specific recommendations on individual cases and for the agency overall, which should “begin to analyze families in totality and in context, not focusing narrowly on the facts in the most recent hotline report,” according to the report.
Paniak noted the case of a 5-year-old suburban Chicago boy, Andrew “A.J.” Freund, who died despite having a long history of contact with the agency. He was found last year beaten to death in a shallow grave not far from the family’s Crystal Lake home. His parents have been charged with murder, a federal lawsuit has been filed and two state employees have been fired amid an ongoing internal investigation.
Paniak said investigators “ignored the parents’ long history of addiction'’ and the case highlights “opportunities DCFS missed to strengthen viable families.'’
The inspector general concluded there wasn’t a single answer to address the agency’s issues, but proposed a set of fixes, including more training, strong supervision of front-line workers and manageable caseloads.
* Tribune…
Those failures contributed to the highest number of deaths after DCFS contact since the fiscal year ending in 2005, when the number was 139 deaths, The Associated Press reported. The lowest toll during that time was 84 in the fiscal year ending in 2010.
The report examines 24 deaths ruled homicides between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. Some older teens were shot in apparent street crimes, but 13 of those victims were children 5 and younger.
There also were 37 deaths attributed to accidents, seven suicides and 21 cases in which the cause of death was ruled undetermined. Natural causes accounted for additional 34 deaths.
- Steve - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:01 pm:
For those who believe in progressive activist government : consider that DCFS is one of the most important functions of state government if not the most important. If government fails here, it’s difficult to say government should take on more functions.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:06 pm:
How could so many children’s death be ruled undetermined?
- Roadrager - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:08 pm:
As a counterpoint, it’s worth considering that DCFS and other state agencies and charitable organizations, whose stated goals are to help those who cannot help themselves, were especially vulnerable to an administration that believed government should take on as few functions as possible.
- James McIntyre Fan - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:09 pm:
That’s “Acting” DCFS Inspector General. Surprisingly, Paniak has not been confirmed yet as DCFS Inspector General.
- Roadrager - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:11 pm:
Please note that my comment is not intended to absolve DCFS of any internal rot that brought it to its current, abhorrent state. Just saying that pointing at dead children and saying, “See, government doesn’t work” isn’t the card to play here.
- SSL - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:29 pm:
I would have chosen unacceptable in place of disheartening.
- Moody's Blues - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 12:33 pm:
With no blaming or exoneration of DCFS intended –
The editorial makes a good point about those of us who suspect child abuse but do nothing …
“Yes, there is more work to be done by DCFS — but also by the rest of us. If you see something that looks seriously amiss, say something.
“As we wrote in the wake of AJ Freund’s death: It took a village to let AJ die. He had been visibly battered. Mandated reporters saw red flags. Yet he was sent home time after time to endure more abuses.
“No system or society should sit easy with this. Or with the many other child deaths in Illinois that could have been prevented.”
- NotRich - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 1:05 pm:
A scandalous agency no matter who is the Governor.. when does the Legislature look to abolish and recreate in a more efficient and safer manner??
- Flat Bed Ford - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 1:35 pm:
Makes the Legionnaire’s outbreak in Quincy look well managed. Will Kifowit ask for caucus members children to spend a night or two under DCFS care? Pritzker, this is on you. Governor’s own.
- Retired Educator - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 1:41 pm:
When the Director is always chosen as a political payoff, it will rarely result in a profession organization. For years the people put in charge had little or no experience regarding the issues covered by DCFS. Constant changes in poor leadership, to even poorer leadership takes its toll. A change needs to take place that insures the person in charge, has the knowledge and ability to run the show, and bring DCFS back from the edge of the cliff.
- Former DCFS - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 1:47 pm:
== substance abuse, domestic violence or mental health issues ==
That literally describes every abuse and neglect case the state ever handles, as long as you slap in poverty as an aggravating factor.
- DIstant watcher - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 2:00 pm:
Glad to know Steve supports raising DCFS’ budget to address the chronic underfunding.
(Crickets)
- Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 3:52 pm:
How is the new Director doing?
DCFS is underfunded, but more money alone will not solve the problems.
- Concerned citizen - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 4:25 pm:
It’s obvious that this system of care has been underfunded for many many years. It starts with building an infrastructure that can protect children and is transparent, have high quality placement capacity for children, and is a system that shows children are better in DCFS’s care than the alternative. It’s the toughest work in the State.
- I Heart Government - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 6:38 pm:
Privatize.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 7, 20 @ 7:04 pm:
From what I’ve heard, things are worse now than ever. Clueless Director and GC. Every governor vows to clean things up and then puts the same old hacks in.
- dbk - Wednesday, Jan 8, 20 @ 12:27 am:
I wrote about DCFS on yesterday’s Open Thread.
There’s an open homicide case in Pekin that’s also, at least indirectly, to be laid at the feet of DCFS and other authorities in the city imho.
A documentary filmmaker from the East coast is now doing a series on the case; in the first episode, the boy’s half-sister observes that she had called DCFS “more than a 100 times” and that the boy’s mother was allowed to retain custody because she “took a parenting class.” Hmm.
At another venue, I posed the following questions:
- Where was DCFS?
- Where were his teachers? (he was often truant and 2 years behind grade level)
- Where were his doctors and medical providers? (He had ADHD and a seizure disorder)
- Where were the neighbors? (Everybody seems to have known what was going on in the house … )
All blame and hostility have been concentrated on his mother and her “friends,” who used the house as a partying venue (apparently), but she was admittedly both a substance abuser and seems to have suffered mental health problems as well.
It’s kind of amazing to me that DCFS doesn’t appear to have been called to account at any point during the past 3 years since the homicide.
For those interested, you can follow the series on the filmmaker’s youtube page, “Ashes to Ash TV.” It’s “The Disappearance of Robert Bee.”
It’s heartbreaking and simultaneously infuriating.
On yesterday’s post, I issued a plea that the Governor take on DCFS as a personal cause in 2020. There’s something wrong with this agency, something profoundly wrong, and more money, while desperately needed, isn’t going to fix it all.