Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

After years of judicial threats, DCFS director held in contempt of court

Posted in:

Illinois
Updated Posts

In a stunning move, a Cook County Juvenile Court judge issued two contempt of court orders against Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Director Marc Smith for violating the rights of two children left languishing in facilities for months. DCFS could soon be fined as much as $2,000 a day until those children are properly placed. […]

The court order describes how a 9-year-old girl suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at home. Then after entering DCFS care, she was put into a psychiatric hospital. She was medically ready to be discharged back in June 2021, but she’s still hospitalized.

A judge wrote DCFS disobeyed numerous court orders to get the child out of the hospital in October and November. This is why DCFS Director Smith is being held in contempt.

The girl has been confined in the psychiatric hospital for 221 days since the date she was supposed to be discharged.

“I’ve seen judges threaten to hold DCFS in contempt of court many times,” said [Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert]. “I’ve been working in juvenile court for more than 30 years. I cannot recall a single case where a judge actually held the DCFS director in contempt of court.”

The rulings are here and here.

* Sun-Times…

One of the children awaiting placement is a 9-year-old girl who was malnourished as an infant and physically and sexually abused by family, records show. The girl, who’s been a DCFS ward for two years, was put into psychiatric care in April and has been ready to be discharged since June. Seven months later, she’s still there.

The other case involves a 13-year-old boy with “severe mental health issues” who was forced to sleep in a utility room before he was placed in a temporary housing shelter in Mount Vernon, about five hours away from Chicago. The shelter was supposed to be a “temporary” placement of no more than 30 days, but he’s been there now for more than 145 days. […]

Golbert offered some short- and long-term solutions for DCFS, including having existing partners expand capacity, and finding more partners to offer housing.

“I know what they’re gonna say, they’re gonna say, ‘Oh, this is so expensive. Oh, this is so hard.’ No. 1, these are children and DCFS is responsible for these children, and these children are our future, and it’s not acceptable for them to be locked up in psych wards for seven months like this little girl was,” he said. “No. 2, DCFS would actually save the taxpayers a lot of money by doing right by these kids,” Golbert said, adding that psychiatric hospitalization is “far more expensive than even the most expensive other types of placements.”

* From the judge…

Lauren Williams, an associate Deputy Director, testified that DCFS has closed 460 residential beds in Illinois since 2015. According to her testimony the agency planned to replace these residential beds’ with “therapeutic foster homes.” However, the agency has, to date, opened less than 30 of these therapeutic homes and only 10 in Cook County. In that same case, a DCFS expert, Dr. Marc Friedman who is board-certified in both child and adult psychiatry, testified that he did not understand why the Department took away these necessary residential beds. He stated that shuttering these facilities caused a “crisis.”

The testimony of these two individuals along with others was that DCFS intended to change its philosophy from residential to “highly structured therapeutic” foster homes. These witnesses implied that in hindsight this was a mistake. The highly structured therapeutic homes were never opened and the residential beds never replaced. Instead, all judges in this division consistently are told by DCFS agents to be patient while they try to place an increasingly number of disturbed children into a decreasing number of residential placements and appropriate “specialized” homes. Several years ago this argument had some merit. But after years of children deteriorating in inappropriate and dangerous placements the courts must act.

…Adding… CBS 2…

Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Westchester) called for hearings and an investigation after state Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith was held in contempt of court for violating the rights of children. […]

Durkin on Monday issued a letter to state Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Oak Park), chairperson of the Human Services Appropriations Committee. Durkin noted in the letter that the DCFS receives more than $1 billion in state support per year, and is “tasked with protecting the state’s most vulnerable residents, a mission both Republicans and Democrats can agree is essential to the state.

“That is why it is so heartbreaking to see that DCFS Director Marc Smith is being held in contempt of court for failing to do his job,” Durkin wrote.

* Related…

* Social workers’ field safety remains concern after killing

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:23 am

Comments

My stomach hurts. Bless the DCFS workers that are doing a good job based on the work and conditions.

Comment by Lurker Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:32 am
The Pritzker Administration needs to start addressing why the agency they’re responsible for administrating has failed to utilize the resources made available to it by the legislature and why they seem to be unable to follow court orders.

A good press statement isn’t going to fix this. Calling public employees heroes isn’t going to fix this.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:35 am
“The girl has been confined in the psychiatric hospital for 221 days since the date she was supposed to be discharged.”

Well, we certainly can’t accuse them of making the cheapest choice available.

This is one of those too rare occasions when doing the right thing would be much less costly.

– MrJM

Comment by MisterJayEm Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:37 am
One thing that isn’t mentioned is whether a bed was available outside the hospital. Another question to be asked is did the children continue to receive mental health care while remaining in the hospital?

Comment by Huh? Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:41 am
Not defending DCFS, but before any members of the General Assembly decide to call a Subject Matter Hearing to grandstand about this, they might want to review how many times lawmakers have blasted DCFS for using out-of-state providers due to lack of beds in Illinois for certain services.

Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:46 am
reading about that poor child. Does IL have more evil parents than other states? That kind of evil does not sound like something that parent education is going to address is it just a percentage of parents that are like that and those children arrive at DCFS badly damaged? Can DCFS predict how many they will receive in an average year? And if so why would they choose to not have enough spaces for the badly damaged children they will see in a year?

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:47 am
How much does it cost the state to keep a kid in a psychiatric hospital vs. a foster home?

So it looks like the state is losing money by keeping kids in a psych hospital when they don’t need to be there.

Does it get any more bizarro world than this?

Comment by Common Sense Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:50 am
@Common Sense- “How much does it cost the state to keep a kid in a psychiatric hospital vs. a foster home?”

Psych hospitals are way more expensive. No one who works for DCFS wants kids in psych hospitals. None. The problem is, broadly speaking, DCFS has no unilateral control over placement. DCFS doesn’t run their own residential facilities, and DCFS can’t MAKE a foster parent take a child.

End of the day, placements cost money.

Studies have shown that the best way to get better/more foster parents is to pay more money (so people who are capable who might otherwise have a job would be willing to give up that job to care for kids).

Similarly, the best residential facilities that provide the best services and care for kids also cost a ton of money that the state has not been willing or able to spend in the past.

It isn’t particularly complicated, but it is politically painful. No one in the legislature wants to risk their neck by being the one to give more money to a flailing agency, even when more money is literally the primary thing that they need to solve the problems.

Comment by Former DCFS Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:57 am
What’s the motivation for keeping these children in psych facilities? On the surface it makes no sense to keep the children there.

What are the available alternatives? It seems like a vicious circle where the longer a child is kept in a facility, the less likely potential foster parents will volunteer to provide care.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:59 am
Also, those fines are going to be paid out of the DCFS budget, so… congrats on that I guess?

Comment by Former DCFS Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 9:59 am
JB does not have an enviable record as a leader of State agencies. The gut-wrenching mishandling of these DCF cases, along with IDES fraud issues that languished for over a year,
Took Kwame and The PAC 8 months to fix the mandated OMA training portal.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:03 am
My only question is what should DCFS do regarding placement. As someone that worked in a psych hospital in Chicago, this was a common issue. Bt the problem was that many group homes would turn kids away that were from Chicago and foster care is even more scarce. It is a real problem, but I’m just curious what others would propose as solutions. Just saying “place them somewhere else” isn’t one if it does not address the shortage in resources, lack of willingness of programs across the state to accept Chicago kids, and a lack of safe homes they can be placed.

Comment by Lawndale9 Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:03 am
Years ago, the State got out of the business of running orphanages and mental health hospitals. Instead, they rely on private contractors that they have even less control over.

Is this really any better than the old orphanages and poor farms?

Comment by RNUG Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:14 am
Foster parents sometimes are reluctant to take kids that were in a psychiatric hospital with “severe mental health issues”.

Comment by DuPage Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:22 am
Could the pandemic be having an effect on the availability of placements. Potential foster parents and, indeed, residential facilities might be more cautious about accepting new residents with a pandemic raging. And at the moment, it is raging among kids. Caregivers are also reported to be quitting in unusually high numbers across the country.

I understand that the judge is feeling frustrated but I find it hard to believe that Mr. Smith is ignoring the issue to the extent that a contempt order is warranted. He can’t take the kids home. And what if he doesn’t find a place because there is no place to be had. Put him in jail? C’mon.

Comment by Casssandra Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:25 am
== JB does not have an enviable record as a leader of State agencies==

He does not, but in all fairness, this agency has been a dumpster fire for decades now. Ryan, Blago, Quinn, Rauner and now JB have all had DCFS nightmares on their watch and none have been able to improve it. Surely there is something that can be done to make DCFS at least a semi-competent state agency, but numerous governors and directors haven’t been able to figure out what that is.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:25 am
Former DCFS has summed up the structural issues pretty well.

===placements cost money.===
=== is to pay more money===
===also cost a ton of money===
===No one in the legislature wants to […] give more money===

But this still doesn’t explain why the Pritzker Administration has been unable to act on the appropriations that have been made to the agency, including why there are several hundred unfilled positions.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:31 am
I agree with Lester Holt above… but I don’t understand why no one seems to be able to effect meaningful change. Can’t we somehow get behind this and work toward a better situation?

Comment by Lincoln Lad Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:32 am
JB deserves credit for changing the culture of the leadership and managers at DCFS. Previously there was a lackadaisical attitude, everyone seemed to relish in the sisyphian nature of their task as an excuse for inaction.

Now, leadership and management have a fire under them. They are working urgently to improve whatever they can. Of course money, headcount and time are working against them.

i would push for an exemption to the procurement code that covers every agency action. Why should DCFS workers be driving broke down cars with 160k miles, and waiting 2 years to procure everything from phones to chairs to beds to hand sanitizer

Comment by Merica Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:36 am
I think RNUG may be on to something. For severly mentally and emotionally damaged children why not have an orphanage? Something that could have a psych ward for when they need additional care and freer conditions for when they are just in therapy? Children like this will always be more difficult to place becuase they need more care and can act out in unpredictable ways. Make it be state of the art and locate it in Cook or Dupage in the population center of the state. And make it state of the art not like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. With personalized education services so the children have some kind of shot of living in the world when they are adults. How much would that cost? Could Federal grants or charities be used?

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:39 am
Our fairly newly married and childless neighbors are fostering two children (age 4 and newborn taken at birth) removed from their mom by dcfs. They are truly doing the lord’s work. They were asked to take an older sibling who has emotional and mental concerns involving violence, they declined. Their heart was in it but they were concerned for the safety of the two children they had. They would love to adopt the children but know they will likely be returned to their mother. Their dealings with dcfs have been far less than acceptable. The case worker has been unhelpful and unresponsive at times. Having worked with dcfs case workers in the past, when we fostered, I know the case load is excessive and unreasonable and not the case workers fault. There are no easy solutions to fix dcfs and the fixes needed would cost more than anyone in power is willing to approve, let alone to even suggest. I am an old school conservative and Christian, but how we are doing things now are not, IMO, what Christ called us to do. We, as a society have an obligation to provide for these children, the sins of the parents should not befall the children.

Comment by Retired and still in Illinois Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 10:53 am
“they rely on private contractors”

“Private Contractors” can infer that this is done on a for profit basis.

I’m involved with an non-profit agency that provides housing for children. We struggle to run at a break-even basis from the DCFS reimbursement. State reimbursement doesn’t come close to covering all our costs, including infrastructure and human resource costs. Those have to be covered by fundraising and generous donors.

Comment by Downstate Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 11:04 am
I’m a current foster parent that only takes Teenagers.I’m paid $572.00 per month, I make that amount every friday on my time & half day at work. I’ve been at capacity for 6mos and still gets calls 3-4 times a week for me to take another kid. The state is short of foster parents and they don’t pay enough to offset the cost of care. While I dont do it for the money I also don’t do it to lose money either. Illinois DO BETTER

Comment by UnionFosterDad Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 11:17 am
Properly run orphanages with a component for temporary shelters for abused spouses and including parenting classes drug and alcohol treatment would be a great option and should be considered. That said operative word is properly run which brings me to VA homes and nursing homes. But I wish it would happen. We should be better as a society. Spend money where it would do best

Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 11:21 am
What is the cost per day to have a kid in a psych hospital? Have they offered that same amount to a foster parent or some other place?

Comment by Common Sense Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 11:44 am
If they offered the foster parents as much as they are spending on the psych ward, I very much doubt they would have difficulty finding placement. Also, where are the churches in all this? Surely some of them would move mountains to save a kid in their community.

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 12:08 pm
I disagree that rejecting one of three siblings is truly doing the lord’s work.

Comment by curmudgeon Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 12:24 pm
Additional observations.

I don’t care if the caseworker is Superman or Superwoman, they can’t do an effective job without enough hours to do their job.

From the Casa website, 2019 stats:

18,549 children in DCFS care

86,946 investigations conducted

143,056 total victims associated with investigations

2,721 TOTAL DCFS employees, figure actual hands on caseworkers are half or less when you subtract administration, call desk, investigators etc. Caseworkers may even be just one third. Plus a lot of the actual court advocacy actions are being done by organizations like Casa.

Given the stress from the pandemic, I have to believe the 2020 & 2021 numbers are worse than 2019.

I don’t know what the solutions are, but I have to believe more staffing and more money needs to be part of the solution.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 12:44 pm
“…DCFS has closed 460 residential beds in Illinois since 2015…”

Well that timeline is consistent with Rauner’s push to hollow out state government.

Comment by Cornerfield Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 12:58 pm
From the Court Order — says DCFS is like the abled defendant throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan – after he
murdered his parent!!!

Clearly, this court cannot tell the director how to run his agency or even where to place a child.
However, the director’s defense, that despite his best efforts, he cannot find an adequate
placement for the child, lacks a scintilla of credibility when he, his agents and predecessors have closed almost 500 residential beds and failed to create alternatives. He is much like the fabled defendant throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan – after he
murdered his parents.

Comment by Common Sense Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 1:12 pm
===I disagree that rejecting one of three siblings is truly doing the lord’s work.===

How many did you reject? All of them?

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 1:18 pm
curmudgeon, it’s different when you are dealing with mental illness. It can be very difficult to get medication levels right resulting in violent acting out. Violence can be a threat to the entire family including the other two children.

Do you recall when Kansas accidentally allowed anyone to drop off a child at any age? And families with mentally ill children went there because they were out of patience/ideas/hope? Very few people are going to voluntarily take that step.

Plus children’s mental health issues affect siblings, too. They are often ignored as the acting out/issues absorbs the attention of the caregivers. It could be the other two siblings are better off without their other sib.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 1:23 pm
Weren’t there some earlier scandals around conditions in residential facilities. I have noticed that sometimes bureaucracies overreact to the scandals of the moment, perhaps encouraged by politicians, and, indeed, by us, the (at least momentarily) outraged public.

But if we are assigning responsibility, where is the state Dept of Mental Health in this discussion. State wards, as Illinois citizens, are presumably eligible for their services and the children lacking placement seem to need behavioral health services. Shouldn’t DMH be working closely with DCFS to develop and locate resources.

Comment by Cassandra Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 1:34 pm
== “Private Contractors” can infer that this is done on a for profit basis. ==

Sorry if I implied that. What I meant to convey was non-State employees.

I’m well aware most those private contractors are various NFP / charitable organizations. You can’t hardly call it a profit at the rates the State pays.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 2:49 pm
== I disagree that rejecting one of three siblings is truly doing the lord’s work. ==

Mrs and I volunteer at a church based afterschool program. There are often dysfunctional dynamics in play. Regardless of DCFS’ desire to keep families intact, often the best thing is to disrupt those patterns.

So I understand the desire to try to prevent duplication of whatever combination got the kids into the system in the first place.

Comment by RNUG Monday, Jan 10, 22 @ 2:54 pm