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DCFS to get 8th director in three years

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The acting director of the Department of Children and Family Services told a packed legislative hearing Wednesday morning that she is leaving the troubled agency Jan. 19.

Bobbie Gregg announced her departure at a Chicago hearing investigating conditions at the state’s roughly 50 residential treatment facilities, which were the focus of the Tribune’s recent “Harsh Treatment” investigation. […]

Lance Trover, a spokesman for Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner, said in an email that Rauner “is committed to a transformation at the Department of Children and Family Services and will work closely with the General Assembly to ensure we protect our most vulnerable residents.”

Gregg said she is DCFS’ seventh director in the past three years.

From what I’ve been hearing, Gregg thought until very recently that she’d be asked to stay on at DCFS.

Administration and oversight apparently aren’t her only shortcomings. Add “foresight” to the list.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:28 pm

Comments

On the flip side…

Rauner appointing the next Director, not a holdover, means Rauner will have to own everything after January 19th that the new Director does.

All part of governing…

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:35 pm
As I said a week or two ago, the biggest thing DCFS needs is some leadership consistency …

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:37 pm
What 3rd world country did this happen in?! America?! What century?! TODAY?! DISPICABLE! DISCUSTING!

Comment by William j Kelly Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:37 pm
How is he going to improve DCFS while slashing the number of workers? No doubt the same way he’ll increase spending on education and half a dozen other programs while cutting taxes.

Comment by anon Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:40 pm
A new director every four or five months? It’s a wonder they function at all! Last year I was transferred BACK to a director I’d been under before, knowing his managerial style and all, and it created two months of chaos in my job. I can’t imagine trying to work with a NEW director every few months for years on end.

Comment by PolPal56 Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:41 pm
Obviously there are more, but I have found one GC and 3 Directors who have not yet received letters.

Comment by Downstate GOP Faithless Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:42 pm
Rauner may also want to ask what the DCFS OIG has been doing for the past two decades.

Comment by south side Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:42 pm
It seems the big heads are all going….Michelle Saddler at DHS has her last day the 19th. It will be a constant litany of replacements. The learning curve will be awful and I hate to see how much money is lost because too many people are replaced too fast.

Comment by illilnifan Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:48 pm
You get what you pay for…. What would you expect when you continue to put polilitical hacks in theses jobs. Save us Bruce!

Comment by State Worker Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:48 pm
Political hacks … Spell check#*#*

Comment by State Worker Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:51 pm
What is the goal here?

How realistic are we in expecting DCFS to reach it?

DCFS needs more than sincere souls working 24/7 to meet that goal. It needs recipients of its work to agree with them and that just doesn’t happen. The more our societal institutions fail, the harder it is for our governmental institutions to succeed as well.

God bless anyone put in charge of DCFS, because it is such a thankless task.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:52 pm
Rich I did not hear that at all. I heard she submitted her resignation in early December and her last day was to be Dec 31. Maybe they asked her to stay on until the transition. I say this considering Jess McDonald and Deb McCarrel(who resigned as a Deputy earlier in 2014) are part of the Rauner DCFS transition team.

Comment by carbaby Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 12:59 pm
A change had to be expected, just like everywhere else, given the change of party and administration. Yes, the new pick will be on Gov. Rauner, but he doesn’t bear the responsibility for the excessive turnover previously. That’s on his predecessor.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:02 pm
My agency heads were notified this week that their last day is 1/16 and we have received no info on who will replace them. All indications are that the replacements have never set foot within the agency confines, attended a meeting, etc. Who blindly accept jobs like this? I get it but man.

Comment by Getsold Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:04 pm
Why is Denise Kane still here? OIG?, right…

“I didn’t know”. Heck, she gets ALL of the UIR’s

Comment by dcfs worker Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:05 pm
Good point, south side. Where has the OIG been. Her office didn’t see any of those thousands of unusual incident reports regarding DCFS wards?

Hard to believe that Gregg, a Quinn pal from his law school days reportedly, could have believed that she’d be kept on, even if she had a grip on things at the agency, which, judging by her response to this latest scandal, she didn’t.

I mean, when Tom Dart’s child protection team has to come in and investigate Sadie Waterford, and then DCFS removes the wards, what is DCFS’role exactly? Doesn’t DCFS have child protection teams? What were they doing? What are we paying for? Maybe we should give the money (and there is lots of it at DCFS)to Dart’s office. He seems interested in the kids, at least.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:07 pm
I hope Rauner knows someone who is brave and who can handle hearing bad news.

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:12 pm
==he doesn’t bear the responsibility for the excessive turnover previously. That’s on his predecessor.==

This. Rauner should feel guilty about, appointing or even shouldn’t appoint, who he wants because his predecessor couldn’t get it right? The fact that his predecessors seemed to make bad appointments, again, and again, and again, and….,seems to me all the more reason Rauner should make a change.

Comment by Anonymoiis Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:16 pm
What qualifications does a person like Bobbie Gregg have to run an agency? it doesn’t take much to be a political crony. Besides it is not the high level muckety-mucks that get the work done, that is done by the rank and file. These directors and acting directors draw big salaries and siphon off way more than they deserve from the pension funds. Still it is the average worker that takes the aristocracy-led flak from the public. The rich get richer and everybody continues to struggle.

Comment by BMAN Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:17 pm
Deb McCarrel would be great.

Time for Denise Kane to go.

Comment by Left Leaner Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:27 pm
Can you imagine if Bobbie Gregg was a catholic priest? This story would be world news for the next 1000 years! But because she’s not my guess is it will be forgotten by this Time tomorrow.

Comment by William j Kelly Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:27 pm
Bobbie Gregg is actually a republican. She has extensive experience with multi-billion dollar companies. She is an alum of the University of Illinois, Northwestern University School of Law, and Loyola School of Law. She was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney, an associate at a large law firm in Chicago, in the legal department at Bank One, and Chief Compliance Officer for AON Corp. She later decided that social work was her passion and she completed the graduate program in social work at Loyola’s Law School. So, a political hack she was not.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:35 pm
In the few forums I’ve had the chance to meet with Bobbie Gregg, she actually has fairly good command of child welfare practice and the needs of the agency. Like any large agency, DCFS has too many silos where one unit doesn’t talk to the other–which is a recipe for disaster. Add to this a flawed leadership structure with Deputy Directors picked by either the Governor or another politician with years of anemic performance and the state is right where it is. These are just a few of the systemic issues that the new head will inherit. And I totally agree with the sounding off on the OIG…where has Kane been in all of this?

Comment by solerunner Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:38 pm
First off OIG does not receive all of the unusual incident reports. OIG investigates misfeasance and malfeasance in addition conducting death and serious injury reviews/investigations. It is everyone’s responsibility to report misfeasance and malfeasance by DCFS, private agencies and vendors. My experience has been that systemic issues are often reported from the Public Guardian’s office here in Cook County. Court personnel in general have been a great source of information about agencies, staff and service providers. It’s not quite the same outside of Cook.
To many in DCFS and private agencies, OIG is the enemy and thus the likelihood of staff reporting issues and/or responding positively to OIG is often very slim. Staff who do file a legitimate complaint and complete the paperwork are often concerned for retaliation by their higher ups.

Comment by carbaby Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:43 pm
@carbaby- transition team? I read that the Governor-elect appointed transition team co-chairs to various substantive areas but other than education I’ve not heard anything about folks being asked to serve on transition teams. Have teams been named and meetings convened?

Comment by Charlatan Heston Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:55 pm
It’s kind of hard to have a well run agency when you are changing directors every 5 minutes.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 1:58 pm
Clearly the DCFS job is very very challenging. But I listened to part of that hearing today. She started the hearing by saying “can I please leave now without answering any questions” and every question she did answer she basically said “I don’t know”

Yes, she has only been there a few months - but if you really wanted to keep this job you might want to show you know something . . .

Comment by Siriusly Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:00 pm
True, Demo.
The next one needs to be exceptional and have a much longer freshness date. I’ll hold off on the criticism and hope and pray for a real angel to be appointed. This is so terribly sad. This is a mission and a ministry. Get the right person.

Comment by A guy Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:01 pm
Sadly, political hacks can be found anywhere in state government. Even OIGs are places for nepotism and cronyism. (DCFS/OIG does get all UIRs)

Comment by south side Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:04 pm
Vanilla Man: “God bless anyone put in charge of DCFS, because it is such a thankless task.”

100% agreed.

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM (@MisterJayEm) Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:21 pm
William j K….right on the head.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:29 pm
Godspeed! She was part of the problem not the solution!

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 2:44 pm
While DCFS has indeed had 8 Directors in the last three years, in all fairness, three were acting directors (2 after Erwin McEwen’s departure and 1 after Richard Calica’s death). Jean Ortega Piron and Dixie Peters filled the position only for the duration allowed under statute and then Denise Gonzalez after Director Calica’s death. Prior to this sad stretch, Jess McDonald, Bryan Samuels and Erwin McEwen held the job for close to 15 years combined.

As has been mentioned, Director Gregg has a solid resume and is a nice person. She is not, nor was she ever qualified to hold the Director’s job. Her answers today and in the Tribune articles reinforce that reality. What possessed her to pursue or say yes to the job, is something only she can answer. What possessed Quinn to appoint her is something completely different. What was he thinking? My guess, stellar candidates weren’t knocking down the door in the sunset of Quinn’s term in a close election. Would you take that job under that scenario?

Governor-elect Rauner is probably discovering some of the same things Quinn uncovered. There are some with the qualifications and skill to do this job, there are many pretenders with neither the skill nor the qualifications and even fewer with the desire, skill and qualifications. Additionally, the Governor-elect must find someone who can fix DCFS, and do it with a possible loss of $200 million (annualized) in funding if the Governor-elect implements across the board cuts because of the income tax roll back. Frankly if the Governor-elect’s handlers find a candidate, and if that candidate does’t ask about the Governor-elect’s plan for revenue, they should move on even if the person is likeminded on the income tax. Clearly, they are not the right person if they aren’t asking themselves how to do the job under those circumstances.

Perhaps the most second guessed and easily one of the most difficult jobs in Government (look at the length of employment for heads of sizable government child welfare entities around the country), these jobs are not for the feint of heart or ill-equipped. While turnover in the Director’s chair is a huge part of DCFS problem, the problems and their solutions are quite complex. That requires picking a Director who is qualified to do the job, has an understanding of the machine that is DCFS, the practice of Child Welfare, a vision for what she/he wants to do and can provide answers to the public, Governor, legislature and press.

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

Comment by Charlatan Heston Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 3:03 pm
Based on his comptroller appointment, doesn’t seem like Bruce is gonna “save us” from the political hires…so far, not much “shaking it up”….

Comment by Mary Sunshine Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 3:04 pm
Awww. That’s nice that she decided social work was her passion. But somehow she got to start her social work career at the top. I know a lot of passionate social workers who’ve labored in the trenches for decades. Wonder why they didn’t just start at the top of DCFS instead.

Comment by girllawyer Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 3:18 pm
Still hopeful that Bruce Rauner will be bringing at least some of the “experts and leaders from the private sector” that he promised us.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 3:36 pm
Directors of State agencies in Illinois can’t do a lot when their immediate staff (Deputy Directors) are (or at least have been) appointed by the Governor (not hired by them) and most of their line staff are in the union, insulated from their control.

Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 3:39 pm
Denise Kane has been busy investigating crooked financial transactions. She does an excellent job. As far as crappy social work by contract agencies is concerned, it’s supposed to be upper management that oversees that. Those contracts have been awarded based on political clout ever since Jess McDonald left. It is to be hoped that will change under the new administration.

Comment by Mac (not THAT Mac) Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 4:04 pm
Before we start making Jess McDonald a saint, can we remember the consent decrees DCFS had to enter into while he was Director?

He was a good Director, but don’t pretend DCFS did not have major issues while he was there also. Sometimes I think some people’s knowledge of state gvt. starts with Rod.

Comment by Give Me A Break Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 4:41 pm
This isn’t the first instance where I have heard that an incumbent agency head has believed they would be asked to stay on. It will be interesting to see how many of the current directors are here a year from now. It seems like magical thinking in some cases.

Comment by anonymous Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 4:42 pm
@Give- BH v McDonald was BH v Johnson i.e. Gordon. BH and many of the class actions brought against DCFS preceded McDonald. The state did not have to “enter” into those consent decrees but given the evidence that the state (DCFS) had huge exposure, settling vs. litigation made sense.

@ Mac- many if not most POS contracts for foster care and residential preceded Jess McDonald and remain in place. Contracts for newef\r initiatives are another matter

Comment by Charlatan Heston Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 4:52 pm
I support a fresh start at DCFS…

Comment by Black Ivy Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 5:01 pm
McDonald and associates is a big reason for the current mess from appointments of Deb McCarrel, to Mike Ruppe, Cathy Smith, Desi Silva etc. Only people appointed over the past two years have all been from central region. Cronyism at its best and anyone and everyone whoever knew Jess McDonald. Time for governor Rauner to put an end to this as the above people have all been in charge since the death rate has increased at DCFS and the residential facility abuse to the kids took place. All of the above continues under these same people. Cut the budget—cut them.

Comment by Realisim Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 5:28 pm
Sir Reel is right. The next director will be able to hire a few executive level aides and regional office directors, but the vast majority of his/her staff have union and/or civil service protections and not only is it difficult to fire them but moving them into other jobs where they might be more useful is subject to union job assignment rules which are seniority-based. It’s byzantine. As I’ve said before, I hope one of Rauner’s smart new bureacrats is learning the Illinois Personnel code and the union contract.

This isn’t only a problem at DCFS, of course. Has Rauner ever encountered an organization where firing or even moving staff, including middle management, either requires tremendous effort or is impossible. Probably not. It’s gonna be a shock.

Comment by Cassandra Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 5:35 pm
Too easy to blame the staff. Need to look at the incompetence in all the Deputy, Associate Deputy, and Statewide positions. When you have the same problems over and over again, you need to look within the top pyramid. They need to go along with the people they promoted. Get new people in Dcfs with some fresh faces and fresh ideas.

Comment by Marcellus Wallace Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 6:20 pm
There are a lot of caring and dedicated people at DCFS at all levels but they have been highly demoralized by the turmoil the last few years. If you can bring in top management that is focused on actually delivering child care services, much could get accomplished. But if all you do is replace one political clique with another, nothing will improve …

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 6:29 pm
Governor Rauner, campaigned that he would not select Management teams for any of the State Agencies based on cronyism. A good example for Governor Rauner to adopt is the 2008 Obama’s transitional team matrix that proved bring in All new Upper and Middle Management personnel insures transparencies and efficient. Yet, the current Management team for the Dept. of Children and Family Services, Deputy, Associate Deputies, and the Regional Administrators have proven they are incompetent to continue to be in a leadership position at DCFS. The Taxpayers of Illinois will be surprised of the following under the current IDCFS administration: Increase in children’s death under pending investigations, IDCFS Wards being abused and neglected in Group Homes. While IDCFS Budget is amongst the highest of any State Agency.

Comment by Not Supported by Popular Demand Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 10:02 pm
Yes. It’s time for a change in administration. No more recycled Deputies or previous Directors or previous Associate Deputies. The agency has suffered enough with these same old people and recycled bad ideas. Unfortunately, while this Administration has attempted to protect themselves, they have failed to protect abused and neglected kids.

Comment by Time to invite new staff to the barbecue Wednesday, Jan 7, 15 @ 10:33 pm
I hope that the new director makes changes only where people have clearly failed and not just change for the sake of change.

Comment by Picaso Thursday, Jan 8, 15 @ 9:50 pm
It is amazing how people speak negatively about DCFS workers. We are under paid and over worked and we are given investigations generated from the hotline. Maybe if you good complaining people would call in reports and not ask to be anonymous and own up to the abuse and neglect that YOU see we would have a easier job substantiating reports of abuse.

Comment by DH Thursday, Jan 15, 15 @ 6:30 pm
Nobody likes to leave their name because of dretaliation. When D.C.F.S. does not work the person that calls pays. And D.C.F.S. just doesnt always work. Face it power and pulling favors screams louder than PAIN.

Comment by lost faith Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 12:25 pm