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* The Illinois Times has a story today about DCFS …
If you think DCFS workers need to develop a tough hide to do the work, you’d be right. But they also consider the job to be a calling, a career to which they feel an emotional attachment.
“I don’t think people comprehend how much we care,” said Heidi Creasy, a Peoria area investigator who has been with DCFS for 10 years. “When something goes wrong, no one is more distraught and upset than we are. I have one particular case that I will never get over. Ever.” […]
[Stephen Mittons, a 24-year DCFS child protection investigator] said there are three response codes that trigger his investigations: normal, where he has 24 hours to initiate the investigation; emergency, where he must respond within two hours; and action needed, where some type of response must be made within 15 minutes.
“At any given time my day can be interrupted by an emergency or action-needed case where I have to drop what I am doing at that point to turn my attention to that new case,” Mittons said. “In this job, you can never really rest and think it may be an easier case. You never really know what is going to be behind that door unless you knock on it.”
Investigator Creasy said she walks away from each situation hoping that she had all of the input she needed to make the right decision. But even a case where an investigator finds nothing wrong can come back to haunt DCFS, and Creasy said that’s the result of unrealistic expectations for the agency.
“Just because I had contact with a family doesn’t mean that the kid is a ward of the state,” Creasy said. “If somebody calls in a report and says a family doesn’t have food, I go out and check for food. There’s food, the refrigerator is full, there’s milk, there’s formula, there’s everything, then something happens to that kid later in the year. That goes on the list that we had involvement and failed the family.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 12:53 pm
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Thank you for highlighting this. Child welfare staff are often depicted as nearly subhuman, if they are depicted at all. It is quite welcome to see the complex, traumatic, and often overwhelming work done by child protection investigators recognized and discussed in a thoughtful way.
Comment by Skokie Man Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:06 pm
That’s an amazing story, Rich, and reminds me that there are times when your blog needs a “like” button.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:07 pm
—That goes on the list that we had involvement and failed the family.”—
Some workers at DCFS respond to that pressure by indicating families without cause.
Comment by Indicated Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:29 pm
should be the parents/guardians/fosters…too easy to blame DCFS
Comment by The First Responders Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:30 pm
Like cops, I’ve never doubted that the vast majority of DCFS employees care deeply and want to do the best job possible. They need the tools to do the job.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:44 pm
You need people who care to work those jobs and others like direct care. Some are givers in this life. Some are takers too.
Comment by Generic Drone Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 1:54 pm
When Rich suggests that we “Go read the whole thing.” we should always do so before commenting.
At one point in my life this may have been a job I could have considered, but am afraid I would never have made it long enough to earn a pension of any kind. Much respect is owed to those front line investigators who do the difficult work to keep those vulnerable in our communities safe. Much respect is owed to those who do their jobs well and persevere.
Comment by illini Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 2:06 pm
===Like cops, I’ve never doubted that the vast majority of DCFS employees care deeply and want to do the best job possible. They need the tools to do the job.===
Exactly what I was thinking.
Comment by Leslie K Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 2:26 pm
Yep, these are the folks I know, love and respect.
I know I couldn’t do that work.
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 2:33 pm
DCFS workers are dedicated and greatly overworked.
They see the worst situations everyday.
God bless them
Comment by Skins Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 3:35 pm
It is going to be interesting to watch the dynamic as many call for reversing course regarding privatization that occured over last 20 years.
Meanwhile, you have a DCFS director who comes from a mid-level position at one of those same private agencies, and a governor who because of his personal philanthropy has a lot of direct connections to the board members overseeing those nonprofits.
Is the new director going to pull the trigger on eliminating contracts for under-performing agencies? What is going to happen when their executive director calls their senator, or when their board member call the governor directly?
Grab your popcorn and sharpen up your FOIA requests, campers.
Comment by Juvenal Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 3:43 pm
Director Calica made lots of poor decisions, one of which was to privatize Intact Family cases. I’m not sure many of those private agencies would have taken that work particularly if they would have had a reasonable choice.
Also, I hope we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. There are plenty of good private agencies that do great work too. Just figure out what their strengths and capabilities are and utilize them accordingly. Hopefully they too will have a spot at the table.
Comment by fedup Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 4:18 pm
Privatizing is too frequently shorthand for eliminating pension costs, health insurance, and other benefits while at the same time failing to increase reimbursement rates. I have dealt with both dcfs and private agency caseworkers, and the overwhelming majority are caring, thoughtful, diligent and way too good for the tools we give them.
Comment by Plants don’t talk back Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 4:40 pm
@Fed-up:
1) The legislature slashed funding for DCFS. Calica had little choice but to move intact to private agencies or eliminate it altogether, you can’t move investigations to private agencies;
2) Private agencies were gleeful about expanding their role in Intact. Foster care caseloads were on the decline.
3) The numbers tells clear tale. Incidents of subsequent abuse rose sharply under Rauner.
A big part of the problem is caseloads, for investigations and intact families. A secondary problem is a system where people have become more concerned about who blame is going to be assigned when it hits the fan than making sure it does not hit the fan in the first place.
I have great empathy for case workers who feel they are being blamed unfairly. They do not have crystal balls. I also know that they need to somehow block all of that out and follow their instincts to ensure the safety and well-being of kids. For that to happen, the management of DCFS and the governor’s press office and the governor have to have their backs when the press and legislators start second-guessing casework. We have a process for reviewing casework, the OIG knows what she is doing.
I will add that it seems like budgetary concerns have been influencing casework. That’s got to stop. You cannot be rushing to close cases or avoiding taking custody because you are worried about budgetary constraints.
Finally I will say I agree that frontline workers at both the department and private agencies are terrific people. Both work at tremendously difficult jobs, and both work forces have had their share of incidences in the Insprctor General’s report.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Apr 18, 19 @ 5:36 pm