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* From this morning’s WBEZ interview…
WBEZ: So, speaking of social services, I want to talk a little bit about the Department of Children and Family Services, DCFS. Two and a half years ago, you brought in George Sheldon, who we had on this show. I believe you called him an all-star. He resigned this week amid controversy, some having to do with contracts benefitting associates, was he the wrong guy for this job?
GOVERNOR BRUCE RAUNER: Well, first of all, let me say we need to provide the proper support for our most vulnerable children. We have so many children growing up in abject poverty, it breaks my heart. And many of them come from broken families with abusive adults in the household. Very important that we do everything we can to support our vulnerable children. It’s very difficult work, very challenging and unfortunately our Department of Children and Family Services has been a failing bureaucracy with unmanageable work rules and contracts and restrictions in terms of law of what they can and can’t do that ties their hands, it’s a very broken system. George came in, he was a star in the Obama administration, he’s a Democrat, he was a star in the Florida government. I believe he did everything he could, he was heavily recruited, I did not ask him to leave or force him out, he accepted another position. He was extremely frustrated trying to make changes. There are investigations ongoing right now, I support those. We are trying to understand exactly what’s been happening down at the levels of the department of children and family services, we need to make all the improvements we can, we need to help our most vulnerable kids.
WBEZ: What about the reports that DCFS was giving gift cards to employees to close out cases, are you investigating what’s wrong with that?
RAUNER: We are investigating everything. Everything at every level.
WBEZ: So again, was he the wrong guy for the job?
RAUNER: Well, we’ve got to fix the system. George was here for two years, and he tried to fix it. And we just we can never give up. We’ve got to bring talented people in who are going to improve our systems to help our most vulnerable kids. It’s the most important work we can do.
That transcript was provided by the Democratic Governors Association.
* From the DGA…
On his appointment in 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner said George Sheldon was the “best of the best.” A year later, Rauner repeatedly praised Sheldon’s work for leading an “impressive transformation” at the agency.
But Sheldon’s record tells a different story. Sheldon’s agency came under investigation for crony hires and handing out contracts to friends, and most recently it was discovered that DCFS “awarded” $100 gift cards to DCFS investigators that “closed the most cases in a month.” In the case of Semaj Crosby, DCFS personnel had contact with her family 16 times last year but the state still allowed Crosby to remain in the home.
“Bruce Rauner needs to come clean on why the Department of Children and Family Services was mismanaged on his watch,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “But today, Governor Rauner chose to bury his head in the sand and defend his hand-picked appointee, George Sheldon. Bruce Rauner has to own his administration’s failures, and explain why he did not act to remove George Sheldon or intervene in the department.”
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:22 pm
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–Department of Children and Family Services has been a failing bureaucracy with unmanageable work rules and contracts and restrictions in terms of law of what they can and can’t do that ties their hands, it’s a very broken system–
What should the governor do about that, I wonder?
I kid — he was just flop-riffing, running out the clock.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:27 pm
So is DGA going to ask former President Obama why he hired him?
Comment by NIU Grad Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:29 pm
Mismanage what? Madigan and union with a little bit. Kurt thrown in. So bad even a super star couldn’t make a dent. Yet we must help our most vulnerable kids. Maybe term limits would work. Gag me with a spoon
Comment by DuPage Saint Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:33 pm
“George was here for two years, and he tried to fix it. ”
Were the gift card his idea, then? Is that your idea of a fix? SMH
Comment by Terry Salad Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:50 pm
you got elected to manage it, you own it. fix it. you will be held accountable.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:57 pm
I had the impression Sheldon didn’t realize the disaster he was walking into in terms of both DCFS and Rauner’s plans to go without a budget and has been trying to find a way out since basically day one.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 3:59 pm
Short version: it’s Madigan’s fault.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 4:04 pm
“Focus. Focus. DCFS. George. Focus.”
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 4:11 pm
Sheldon might have made some more positive changes if he hadn’t brought in a bunch of flacks from Florida.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Jun 2, 17 @ 4:14 pm
=== I did not ask him to leave or force him out ===
Wow. Just “wow.” I never would have said that.
=== unfortunately our Department of Children and Family Services has been a failing bureaucracy with unmanageable work rules and contracts ===
Okay, Let’s look at the record.
According to data reported by the states, Florida, the state that George Sheldon supposedly “fixed”, has consistently had a higher child death rate and number of shield deaths than Illinois:
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2015.pdf#page=73
All the Rauner administration had to do was a simple Google search, and they would have realized that Sheldon’s record was a political fairytale.
Moreover, it seems a little fanciful to complain that Sheldon did such a horrific job because he was handcuffed by procurement rules when he is under investigation for trampling on them.
A fact that Sheldon has pretty much admitted to when he testified that he hired the firm in Florida because he needed a firm he had worked with before so he could trust them.
I am not suggesting that DCFS doesn’t have its difficulties. But the primary difficulty it faces has been inflicted on it by Bruce Rauner and the GOP. Funding for programs that prevent child abuse — which unfortunately are not protected by federal court orders — have been slashed and burned. Staffing of child abuse investigators has not been increased to keep up with the increasing number of reports. Foster care reimbursement rates continue to be among the lowest in the nation, while the pool of prospective foster parents shrinks, increasing the challenge of finding suitable foster homes. Funding for adoption supports like continued family counseling and mental health services is abysmal. And the nonprofit organizations that provide much of the supportive services for intact families and foster families have suffered brutal staff turnover rates because contract rates and wages are terribly low.
There is nothing wrong with DCFS that $300 million cannot fix. But Rauner refuses to pass a budget, and given a choice between protecting children from child abuse and protecting millionaires from a tax increase, he chooses the millionaires.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Saturday, Jun 3, 17 @ 11:38 am
DCFS was created by Law, and as such follow administrative Rules and Procedures. To state that it has “unmanageable work rules”, this clearly demonstrates someone who does not know how the investigative process works and is being advised by those same DCFS Deputies who have failed in their obligation to inform not only the Gov. but the children they are mandated to protect. Micheal Ruppe, Nora Harms, Meryle Paniak, Beth Soloman, Lisa Sacapone, And all 4 Regional Administrators are all responsible. They were all aware of the failures and all condone the behaviors of the investigative field staff. The lack of fundamentals in assessment of safety, following the “how to” procedures and protocols has created an agency in which bad practice is championed while making well informed decisions on behalf of small children is “too hard” on highly paid union staff. The Department needs an organizational change in culture, and the current leaders are not it. They allowed it to happen More small children will die in their watch it is only a matter of time while they and the Gov. play politics
Comment by Truthbetold Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 5:46 pm