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* Clare Spaulding at the Tribune has a comprehensive story about the ongoing disaster that is DCFS. I chose to focus on these excerpts, but the whole thing is worth a read for context…
“DCFS is in the worst shape it’s been in 30 years,” said Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, whose office legally represents more than 7,000 children involved in the child welfare system. “At some point, everybody involved in child welfare — judges, providers, lawyers — has to say, ‘Enough is enough. Drastic times call for drastic measures.’” […]
It was during that time that one of Rauner’s appointed DCFS directors, George Sheldon, set out to reform the system by moving children out of residential treatment centers and instead prioritizing specialized foster care, an idea most advocates support, said Golbert, the Cook County public guardian. But success would require a “robust system of community-based services,” Golbert said — something that didn’t exist when Sheldon dissolved contracts with residential centers, and still doesn’t exist today.
“A lot of the problems we’re seeing today really go back to that horrible decision to get rid of 500 beds before we had beds to replace them,” Golbert said. “DCFS already had a shortage of beds, and then it got 500 beds worse.” […]
Children being kept in psychiatric hospitals beyond what was medically necessary was part of the impetus for the consent decree. By the end of the 1990s, instances of this did still happen, but they were “pretty unusual,” Golbert said.
Now, it’s “widespread and common again,” Golbert said, noting there were 356 children under DCFS care kept beyond medical necessity in the 2021 fiscal year. The department is “on track for another very sad record this year,” Golbert said.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 8:53 am
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“”to reform the system by moving children out of residential treatment centers and instead prioritizing specialized foster care, an idea most advocates support,”"
Reform advocates often focus more on the imagined outcome than the required steps to get there. Tragic in this case. Terrible.
Comment by walker Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 9:20 am
===Reform advocates often focus more on the imagined outcome than the required steps to get there. Tragic in this case. Terrible.===
Yes exactly. Residential treatment centers were bad, but probably better than warehousing kids in psychiatric hospitals. Too often in government a bunch of arrogant consultants with no real world experience come in and try to force short sighted “solutions” on agencies.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 9:31 am
There’s properties the state could buy up and convert to group homes in a hurry, to plug that gap of bed space. They lack the will.
Comment by Give us Barabbas Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 9:33 am
“There’s properties the state could buy up and convert to group homes”
To be staffed by whom?
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 9:37 am
Give all exec staff WWJD bracelets to wear (what would Jess do)
Comment by Wading in... Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 10:43 am
Adam Serwer, I believe during the Kavanaugh hearings wrote that in the current political climate, for the GOP, the cruelty is the point.
I am eagerly awaiting the first thought leader to notice that for the Dems, the cruelty is incidental.
Comment by SWSider Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 10:45 am
=“A lot of the problems we’re seeing today really go back to that horrible decision to get rid of 500 beds before we had beds to replace them,”=
This was a feature of the Rauner plan, not a bug.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 10:51 am
It takes two years to buy something (4 years for software)
It takes two years to hire someone
what could go wrong?
Comment by Merica Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 10:59 am
== There’s properties the state could buy up and convert to group homes in a hurry, to plug that gap of bed space. They lack the will. ==
As advised by the “experts”, the State got out of providing direct service, instead choosing to contract. But you can’t contract if there are no capable and willing providers.
As I suggested the other day, the State needs to rethink that service model …
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 11:26 am
“But you can’t contract if there are no capable and willing providers.”
And many of the providers are already doing it at a financial loss. I’m involved with one and, but for the outside donations, the service would have to be shuttered.
Staffing is another issue. In some cases these are fit young adults who physically lash out at the adults offering instruction, counseling and supervision. The liability, legal and otherwise, is incredible.
You can’t put a 50 year old female in that situation. In a similar vein, would you want your child working in such a place?
Comment by Downstate Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 12:37 pm
- Downstate -
First, after your mocking of victims of child molestation I’m still shocked you feel it necessary to comment as one who’s an advocate for children. It’s a wow.
=== And many of the providers are already doing it at a financial loss. I’m involved with one and, but for the outside donations, the service would have to be shuttered.===
Did you vote for Rauner in 2018? During the years Rauner held hostage social services, I’d find it a bit disingenuous if you voted for Rauner and now seem a bit concerned about any social service existing.
To the post,
Adequate understanding of what is needed, required, and the knowledgeable way to fund both to maximize the ability to meet needs seems to be the missing reality, 30 years of a window to dissect, but at some point there needs to be not only a reset but almost an overhaul where it begins with a mission to review what can be done for children, and what will be done for children within not a minimum, but what is best for them.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 12:46 pm
OW,
To keep readers up to speed, you near fixation on Governor Rauner and blaming him with every ill known to Illinois caused me to respond, “OW, point to where on the doll, Rauner touched you.”
Your thin skin is showing.
I’m happy to match my two decades of work in this arena against a flippant comment that you take all too personally.
Comment by Downstate Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 1:08 pm
=== To keep readers up to speed===
You mocked the victims of child molestation.
I can remind you again, but this idea you have a voice to child advocacy is pathetic given your penchant to mock child victims.
I mean… let’s look at this… you tattling on yourself.
=== To keep readers up to speed, you near fixation on Governor Rauner and blaming him with every ill known to Illinois caused me to respond, “OW, point to where on the doll, Rauner touched you.”===
Now, you don’t feel bad about this sickening thing, no.
Today?
===Your thin skin is showing.===
Your personal lacking for empathy towards victims of child molestation is indeed noted here with your own tattling on yourself, and why I’m continually amazed you feel any need to be an advocate for children.
Your sick mind to think it’s my “thin skin”… makes me ill.
To the post,
Advocating for children also means taking serious what children face, not mocking the devastating experiences a child may face, even in these programs.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 1:15 pm
Workforce, not facilities, is the single biggest issue we are facing to address this problem. The state has begun to make the kinds of investments needed to attract people to this field and to keep them there. But that takes a while, including convincing people that they can make a living and a career in this field. It is easy to take things apart. It is hard to rebuild them.
Comment by Andrea Durbin Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 1:46 pm
I am glad that this is getting the attention it deserves in the media. This isn’t something that is a quick fix and as I have opined before there are hundreds of appropriate positions that have not been filled and one should not expect those positions to be filled for years at the current rate of hiring. I believe DCFS requires a complete overhaul and a reimagining, including allowing the state to directly manage facilities again but doing so in a fashion where the responsible civil servants actually meet required qualifications, have oversight, and accountability — things that did not exist during the period of illegal hiring schemes filling every position at DCFS. We cannot let the perfect, or even ideal, continue to be the enemy of the good but from where I sit I do not see that DCFS has a road map for how to fix this problems and I wonder if DCFS is even able to be aware of these problems. Our DCFS agency pays better than neighboring states we should be actively poaching those states’ best and brightest while building a public institution that works, even if that means starting over from scratch. This catastrophe has been decades in the making and can’t be fixed by slapping another band aid on it, even if it’s being done with the best intent.
Our reliance on private sector entities to fill in these roles also allows for some organizations to see these children as being targets for indoctrination for whichever specific religious tenants that they want to prioritize or suppression of whatever cultural background that the providers do not appreciate which can subject the children to another and different kind of victim-hood.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 1:55 pm
Have they tried paying a lot more to foster these children? Consider the cost of psychiatric hospital I would think they could afford some decent scratch, especially as fostering one of these children would probably be a full time job. So 40-50K for fostering one. And have training run alongside placement (so they get the most important info in the first 2 weeks before the child is placed and everything else is in later classwork while they care for the child?) With frequent contact with DCFS at first then less later if things are working out.
Comment by cermak_rd Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 1:58 pm
Not sure who Cermak_rd is but that’s exactly what we are advocating for. Don’t give up on therapeutic foster homes, give up on asking people to be volunteers. The amount of training and coordination it requires with providers and DCFS is just too much for people to take on for therapeutic homes. Professionalize this specific foster home instead. And Andrea Durbin is right, we need to make salaries competitive for these jobs, we need to improve supervision, and work environments to attract fully qualified human service candidates.
That’s not a new facility that’s investing in people.
Comment by Kyle Hillman Tuesday, Mar 22, 22 @ 2:47 pm