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Groups furious that DCFS report tracking system has been offline for 8 months

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DCFS hasn’t published child abuse and neglect numbers since July. It’s something, for the past 35-years, they’ve done monthly. […]

Groups like the ACLU, the Foster Care Alumni of America and the Association of Social Workers Illinois, all depend on the data to keep track of abuse cases and ensure DCFS is doing it’s job. The information on the “Executive Statistical Summary” reports calls collected on the child abuse hotline, detailing where abuse is happening in the state and what the circumstances might be.

DCFS blames the halt on technical issues. A spokesperson says they’re working with Department of Information Technology (DoIT) to replace outdated software.

Some advocate groups the timeline doesn’t add up.

“It’s generally infuriating that we’re not able to get this data this is really core data so we can identify where trends are in the state where abuse cases are happening whether or not the department is doing their job in investigating those abuse cases, and without this data we can’t advocate for those children or the social workers that are suppose to be doing this work,” says Kyle Hillman of the National Association of Social Workers Illinois.

#FacePalm.

Rauner: “On things that we can control, I would give us an A.”

He must be using one heckuva grading curve.

…Adding… From Kyle Hillman in comments…

Also in that news coverage was this:

The last report was issued a month after new director, Beverly Walker, took over. When asked when new data would become available a DCFS spokesperson responded, “We are determining whether there is a legal mandate to produce this particular report.”

Rather than figuring out how to get the data out to the public, they are trying to figure out if they can legally just stop and hide the report numbers.

…Adding… Andrea Durbin at the Illinois Collaboration on Youth in comments…

DCFS testified in a Senate hearing in the fall that calls to the hotline were up 12% in the last two years, after years of declines. Our neighboring states have seen their child welfare systems explode with children due in part to the opioid crisis. This is a bad time for the data to go dark.

* Pritzker campaign…

“Hiding child abuse and neglect statistics is a new low in Bruce Rauner’s cover up of his fatal mismanagement of state government,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Children are suffering while this failed governor tries to preserve his image instead of protecting the lives of our most vulnerable.”

* Related…

* Boy died after being returned to his mother despite warning. The judge now works for DCFS: Carrie Cross told the judge the next time she would see 3-year-old Elijah Campbell, he would be dead. She was right. “I loved that boy. We had a lot of love for him,” Cross said. Elijah died in 2014 — three years after St. Clair County Judge Laninya Cason terminated Cross’ guardianship and returned the boy to his biological mother, Mio Campbell.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:32 am

Comments

Also in that news coverage was this:

“The last report was issued a month after new director, Beverly Walker, took over.

When asked when new data would become available a DCFS spokesperson responded, “We are determining whether there is a legal mandate to produce this particular report.”

Rather than figuring out how to get the data out to the public, they are trying to figure out if they can legally just stop and hide the report numbers.

Comment by Kyle Hillman Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:37 am
Wasn’t DCFS IT resources supposed to be consolidated when the “new” agency called DoIT was created?

Comment by Heisenberg's_Attorney Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:45 am
Sorry no cash left to keep systems running, greedy retirees soaking it all up….

Comment by 44th Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:49 am
This is sad Do-it is truly a joke.This is the gove’s pet project.

Comment by Rocky Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:51 am
–Rather than figuring out how to get the data out to the public, they are trying to figure out if they can legally just stop and hide the report numbers.–

In what world is that acceptable, to anyone?

This situation is crying out for the chief executive to crack the whip, issue some orders and be clear as to the consequences if they are not followed.

If that doesn’t happen, see you in court.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:56 am
You know what would really help those families in DCFS…term limits and work comp reform.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 10:59 am
==no cash left to keep systems running==

That’s because Deloitte took theirs “off the top”. You seem to forget Rauner’s campaign promise of doing more with less

Comment by Jocko Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:01 am
===If that doesn’t happen, see you in court.===

And at the ballot box. On November 6, vote accordingly.

Comment by Nick Name Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:02 am
Unfortunately Rauner and his staff have proven to be just as incompetent as previous administrations. They created DoIt which has imposed standards and processes that don’t work as intended and cost community agencies more from their limited funding. There are good people working in state government but the leadership is failing them.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:04 am
Yet another example of what happens when you have an administration that came into governing with a disdain for government, especially folks that do the work of government and the people that rely on such work, and instead spent 95% of their time and energies campaignin’ and tryin’ to hide or re-write narratives of what those consequences are.

Comment by Henry Francis Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:04 am
“I am not in charge.”

Never been happier.”

Comment by Langhorne Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:12 am
DCFS testified in a Senate hearing in the fall that calls to the hotline were up 12% in the last two years, after years of declines. Our neighboring states have seen their child welfare systems explode with children due in part to the opioid crisis. This is a bad time for the data to go dark.

Comment by Andrea Durbin Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:19 am
I worked at DCFS and do not understand how they could mess this up. Social workers are good at counting. This is easy.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:26 am
I wonder what the ratio of management to investigators is.

I’d bet Rauner has put in equal amount of managers to the number of the investigators.

That’s what I’ve seen at my agency.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:32 am
DHFS doesn’t know how 7.5 billion was spent with MCOs. IDVA and IDPH can’t figure out how to keep elderly veterans from dying preventable deaths. DCFS can’t/won’t report its statistics. Nothing to see here folks.

Comment by Irish1 Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:36 am
== instead spent 95% of their time and energies campaignin’ ==

And doling out pinstripe patronage to the lucky few …

Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:37 am
Erika Harold would be in charge of enforcing FOIA - what does she say…should DCFS produce the records?

What about Denise Kane? Anyone have her cell phone number?

Comment by Thomas Paine Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:42 am
>DCFS blames the halt on technical issues. A spokesperson says they’re working with Department of Information Technology (DoIT) to replace outdated software.

Were it not for the comments about trying to find a legal way to avoid releasing the information, I would find this believable. Lots of issues in state agencies right now with IT–especially Medicaid redeterminations. It’s a challenge for front line staff and people needing supports.

Comment by Earnest Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 11:52 am
@Irish1, that’s false, HFS can’t account for all of the $7.5 billion was spent, but they did collect a lot of encounter data. The appendices of the audit said they could account for 66% of capitation, if I remember correctly. Still abysmal, it means they don’t have records of $1.5-$2 billion was spent even after you take MLR into account, but not quite as bad as you’re making it sound.

Comment by Perrid Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:02 pm
Not a shock this occurred when Director Walker took over. She previously worked for Deloitte and doesn’t seem to like an audit trail. Another super star.

Comment by Happily Retired Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:11 pm
If only Dr. Rauner were interested in what happens to vulnerable kids. Then maybe this would t have happened, or could be fixed.

Comment by Keyrock Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:17 pm
Here’s what DOIT is up to …

https://twitter.com/valbolinger/status/968582565849387008?s=21

This is an agency with 1,400 employees that just last week asked legislators to give them for $1.1 billion for FY2019.

Comment by P Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:22 pm
So… does Dr. Rauner need to do another “intervention” for Bruce???

And, to the GA, maybe they need to intervene for DCFS:

“…DCFS spokesperson responded, ‘We are determining whether there is a legal mandate to produce this particular report.’”

Find out and Mandate if it isn’t “crystal clear” to this Administration (banned punctuation).

Comment by Anon221 Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:28 pm
DCFS IT is not fully understand DoIT. It takes time to move all the stuff. Right now parts are on DoIT and parts are still on DCFS. Every time something gets moved huge “glitches” happen. I don’t know if this is one of those or not. I do know. DoIT has a schedule of what moves when. No matter what that schedule is followed and some things get broken. But no matter what the schedule must be followed.

Comment by Union thug Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:30 pm
“We are determining whether there is a legal mandate to produce this particular report.”

Which suggests to this reader that the report isn’t good.

How long has DoIT been working on the CMS for DCFS? Was it last in line in implementation?

This data has to be published - I would assume there is a legal mandate, but if there isn’t, that needs to be speedily fixed.

Comment by dbk Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:39 pm
As far as I know they have been directly working on the change for a year. DCFS has a lot of things to move, some unique to DCFS. Many agencies were moved before DoIT under blago. I know for sure DHS and HFS already consolidated under blago.

Comment by Union thug Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:50 pm
Family member who is a mandated reporter called this hotline to report an incident recently. Took more than 48 hours to actually get through to talk to anyone, and this was after multiple attempts to do so and getting the run-around on having someone call back. And to be clear, the information was potentially critical to safety and well-being. Initial call-takers could care less, and were pretty much indifferent to the problem. And none of them seemed to have any sense of urgency. I hope this is isolated, but I seriously doubt it is.

Comment by Domie Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 12:55 pm
@UnionThug there is no reason why an entire system should be down for 8 months…heck DOIT stood up an entire system for Veterans Affairs in not nearly long of time after their entire systems was compromised by a system breach.

Comment by Heisenberg's_Attorney Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 1:09 pm
@Union Thug - thank you, that was helpful.

Comment by dbk Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 1:16 pm
Even if there’s no legal mandate to produce this information is there not a moral and ethical obligation to do so?

Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 1:38 pm
DCFS was not consolidated under Quinn. It was reviewed and kept independent.

When you merge systems, the data should still be accessible. A good transition would have key reports produced by the old system until the new software works.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 1:44 pm
Does Rauner prefer incompetent agency heads, or are they the only ones willing to work for him?

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 2:12 pm
== When you merge systems, the data should still be accessible. ==

-Last Bull Moose-, seems the kids these days doing program development just prototype and go. Loose specs because they threw out all the documentation on the old systems years ago, minimal understanding of the existing system, no flowcharting or design, only a rough idea of inputs and outputs, minimal testing.

I’m surprised any of it works …

Comment by RNUG Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 2:17 pm
I am not defending anyone on this issue. I do not know if it really is a technical issue. Several thing could have happened. From being missed in a system move with nobody noticing to being taken down on purpose. I do know things happen when you take on a change like they are doing with DCFS. Especially when you set arbitrary deadlines and meet them no matter what.

Comment by Union thug Friday, Mar 9, 18 @ 2:34 pm