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The Cook County public guardian is suing Illinois child welfare officials for allowing foster children to remain locked up in juvenile detention even after they’ve been ordered released — a problem that has only gotten worse, an Illinois Answers Project investigation found last year.
At issue is the inability of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services’ to find appropriate placements for children with behavioral health and emotional problems that often stem from their histories of serious abuse and neglect.
The federal lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, alleges that “children incarcerated in juvenile jail are confined to their cells for the majority of the day, have limited opportunities to exercise and are exposed to unnecessary violence and dangers. Moreover, DCFS is unable to provide them the clinically appropriate mental health treatment and educational services that they need — critical resources for children who have suffered trauma and instability.”
“Detaining children and youth in juvenile jails when they don’t need to be there is cruel, unusual and a violation of our Constitution and laws,” Public Guardian Charles Golbert said at a news conference Thursday. “It’s a profound assault upon the children’s civil and human rights . . . While wrongfully incarcerated the children are denied the everyday joys, experiences and opportunities of childhood. Their schooling is disrupted, and they often fall behind in school.
* Here is the full lawsuit if you’re interested. Loevy and Loevy’s press release…
One of the most profoundly damaging scandals in Illinois history is coming to a head with the filing of a federal class action suit this morning alleging that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has willfully and wrongly incarcerated hundreds of children in its care.
Despite literally three decades of court orders, news reports and letters from informed officials, the wrongful incarcerations by top DCFS officials have continued under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Most of the children suffered physical, sexual or other traumas before they were taken into DCFS’s care, and Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert charges that DCFS imprisonments intensely magnify the harms already suffered. […]
Since the late 1980s, DCFS has been well aware of its recurrent problems of wrongfully imprisoning dozens of children each year, some as young as 11-years-old.
According to the suit, “Children incarcerated in juvenile jail are confined to their cells for the majority of the day, have limited opportunities to exercise, and are exposed to unnecessary violence and dangers. Moreover, DCFS is unable to provide them the clinically appropriate mental health treatment and educational services that they need—critical resources for children who have suffered trauma and instability.”
One of the plaintiffs, Janiah Caine, now 18, was held while still a minor in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center for more than five months even though a judge at that time had ordered her release.
During that time, Caine was unable to go to her grandmother’s funeral because she couldn’t get hold of her DCFS caseworker, she told reporters.
“My caseworker wasn’t answering the phone and she wasn’t reaching out to me,” said Caine.
She also said she didn’t feel safe at the detention center.
* ABC Chicago…
“Their parent or their guardian has to come pick them up or take care of them. DCFS doesn’t do that. And they don’t do that a week later — They don’t do that multiple months later. They leave their kids to rot in detention,” Golbert said.
According to the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, in 2021 there were 84 instances of children left locked up for prolonged periods of time. Seven are in that very situation today.
“They have empty beds right now,” Golbert said. “They just have to pay the money to hire the staff and fill the beds that they have that are empty, that used to have children sleeping in them and now they have children sleeping in jail instead.”
* CBS…
We reached out to DCFS for a comment on the lawsuit. They issued this statement:
“The Department of Children and Family Services works as quickly as possible to place youth in appropriate and safe settings. Of course, we can only place youth where we have availability that meets their needs, which is why the department is also working to expand the capacity that was hollowed out under previous administrations. Thanks to this work, in recent years we have made progress in reducing the number of youth who remain in the justice system past the date they are allowed to be released and we are deeply committed to continued progress. We cannot comment further due to pending litigation.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 10:17 am
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So why doesn’t the state just build orphanages? They are stashing minors in psychiatric hospitals, in juvie, pretty much anywhere they can so they aren’t running the streets.
Can’t we crib off other states or countries to see what they do for this population? It’s got to be a common problem.
Orphanages, supervised group homes both of those sound better than juvie or psych hospital.
Foster care obviously doesn’t work for this population due to the trauma these charges have experienced.
Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 10:28 am
Thank goodness Illinois citizens have the BGA, these lawyers and the Public Guardian helping our children.
Comment by Back to the Future Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 10:36 am
I work in human services. There are no beds (more accurately, no staff to cover the beds that are available). No lawsuit is going to change that harsh reality. There is no magic fix that is going to suddenly make placements available. Agencies are going to struggle hiring direct support staff as long as potential employees can make more money at jobs that are much less stressful.
Comment by SIUEalum Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 10:53 am
I get that this is a challenging situation… I don’t get that there is seemingly no plan to even try to improve the situation. The casualties are children; children potentially harmed in a manner that will have a life long impact. Something needs to be done, even if that is a long term plan. You have to try.
Comment by Lincoln Lad Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:15 am
Agree with Lincoln Lad.
Pritzker can start by obeying Court Orders.
I suppose it comes down to recognizing that if you elect the ultimate insider as Governor you should not be surprised that he governs as an insider and has no time or interest in helping children in need, seniors in nursing homes, veterans in veterans homes or improving our schools in poorer areas.
How about a “slush fund” for these kids?
Comment by Back to the Future Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:29 am
JB didn’t create this problem, but if he doesn’t get on top of it he can kiss any Presidential aspirations goodbye. After 4 years he has no excuses.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:29 am
== Agencies are going to struggle hiring direct support staff as long as potential employees can make more money at jobs that are much less stressful. ==
So the staff shortage solution is more money?
Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:31 am
== So why doesn’t the state just build orphanages? ==
I’d love to hear the official answer to that question.
Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:33 am
= So the staff shortage solution is more money?=
That is probably going to be part of the solution. Direct care staff are paid abysmal wages for a very stressful job. Agencies are having a hard time hiring staff, making it harder on the staff who are currently there.
Why would people want to work for $14-$15/hour when they can make more money elsewhere in a job that is much less stressful?
Comment by SIUEalum Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 11:37 am
=== They are stashing minors in psychiatric hospitals, in juvie, pretty much anywhere they can so they aren’t running the streets.===
This is an accurate statement but needs elaboration. They’re literally keeping children overnight and for days on in at DCFS offices that were never designed or intended for such purposes. This is a regular occurrence and they pay DCFS staff overtime to babysit the children 24/7 in the office. It is very expensive to do that.
Government exists in part to do things that the private sector won’t. If the state can’t entice private entities to build the needed infrastructure and provide the needed services, they need to do it themselves.
In a related note anyone that could fix this problem would earn my support for President of the United States.
Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 12:11 pm
When mass shootings started hurting wealthier white people, our elected officials got together and passed the assault weapons ban. Wealthier white families never have children “willfully and wrongly incarcerated” but hey at least DCFS is “deeply committed to continued progress.” I am sure those hundreds of children who have been willfully and wrongly incarcerated — hundreds of children — feel better already.
Comment by DCFS emergency Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 12:17 pm
Expand infrastructure, employees, safe youth housing and resources to serve their needs. It sounds like youth reentry services are needed.
Incorporate trauma-informed care at every step of the process for both clients and staff.
Hold parents accountable for neglect.
Make DCFS an attractive place to work. Pay more, build in consistent trauma-informed care for caregivers to avoid burnout. Create alternative schedules, perhaps one week on and one week off or something similar. We need to be much more creative.
Comment by Politix Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 12:22 pm
When we look at the NFL, we realize that more money. will not create more top quality quarterbacks. There are only so many with the physical, mental, and emotional ability to excel.
DCFS has a similar problem. There are only so many people who can be good foster parents. There are only so many people who can be good caseworkers. DCFS can probably expand the pool of both, but I don’t think they can get to the needed levels of good homes and good caseworkers.
State run orphanages could help, but they are fraught with risk. The state has not done a good job of managing veterans’ homes. Orphanages will be harder to manage.
Long term the solution has to be to change family dynamics to reduce the number of children needing protective custody.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 12:57 pm
The children under care in DCFS are often victims of neglect and abuse in their homes. Parents who abuse drugs and alcohol or who are engaged in criminal activity do not provide a stable, secure environment for their children.
If grandparents or extended family were available for the children and received compensation from the state for care, this might alleviate placement in juvenile jail.
Children with behavioral health and emotional problems often have an IEP which provides guidelines for educational goals. Often, the issue is staffing as there is a shortage of teachers and specialists in schools.
Years ago, I worked with a class of thirty 8 and 9 year old students. The administration placed a 14 year old student in the class for three weeks as his IEP required that he attend school. I made him my assistant as he helped the younger students with reading and math. There were no problems or outbursts. When he transferred to an age-appropriate class, his behavior deteriorated. He beat another student so badly that an ambulance removed the injured student to the ER. Police removed the student to a juvenile facility.
There are no easy solutions or remedies for these tragic situations.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 1:19 pm
This seems to be a different situation from the previous DCFS foster care problem. These are young people that have been adjudicated in relation to some type of criminal activity.
Given the difficulty finding foster parents for children in general, I imagine it is much more difficult to find foster parents for children charged with crimes.
A judge can order the child released from jail, but the question is where is the child to go? It doesn’t seem that anyone has a specific answer to this.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 1:24 pm
DCFS’s definition of “progress” sets the bar on the ground, as it has been for years. What is being done to expedite DCFS staff hiring? What is being done to attract foster parents? Are fosters adequately paid/”stipended” relevant to TODAY’S childcare costs, not just some Federal or State magic number usually far below reality? Can the private social service agencies do any better with running small group homes (not giant orphanages) or placing kids? Are the agencies being paid relevant to today’s costs, let alone their staff running existing facilities? Are parenting classes available to parents with parenting skill issues to MAYBE create a stable family environment? We’re not the only State with issues, but this is yet another long-running mess.
Comment by thisjustinagain Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 1:39 pm
Re: thisjustinagain
What is being done to expedite hiring and make it more attractive? Nothing meaningful; which is why caseworkers have 3-4x the caseload that they’re supposed to have.
The root cause is money. Caseworkers aren’t paid enough, which leads to turnover. That turnover leads to dropped balls that fall into the lap of the office/support staff within local offices and in Springfield.
If anyone thinks that these issues will be fixed overnight with more money, I have a bridge to sell you. The brain drain is real - between people jumping ship to other agencies and retirements, a lot of institutional knowledge is being lost, and I do not know if TPTB actually care.
Comment by Insider Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 2:32 pm
so many people who should not be having children…..
Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 2:36 pm
Like SIUEalum I worked in social services. I have yet to see any discussion of what it actually costs to place a person with serious behavior/emotional issues in a residential setting. Recent surveys by social service trade associations are showing providers commonly have 25% staff vacancies on top of high turnover. Why? Direct service jobs pay barely above minimum wage. Why? Rates paid by the state are do not cover actual costs particulalrly in small residential type settings. We had a person with serious behavior issues. We got almost $300,000. Sound Ok? Cover the required two full time staff 24 hrs a day, nursing, food, residential, vehicles, emergency overtime, insurance, utilities, work comp, vacation coverage, supplies, training, and sick time. Then have other families refuse to let their family member to move into the same home because of the behaviors. One person in a 4 bedroom home does not work. Employees can get better jobs/benefits with far lower stress levels. Providers simply will not except the risks if they cannot hire staff and cover their costs. Do whatever you want in court. Until costs are covered the situation will not change.
Comment by zatoichi Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 2:44 pm
Amalia - tell me you know jack about youth in DCFS care without explicitly saying it
Comment by Insider Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 2:46 pm
Oh, I’ve watched parents for some time. it starts with the parents.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 3:06 pm
I actually work for DCFS, and can speak to your ignorance
Comment by Insider Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 3:57 pm
I certainly empathize with the Public Guardian, and obviously this is a long-standing problem that creates a lot of issues for the youth involved. That being said, as other commentators have hit upon, a lawsuit just can’t make the money appear to make this go away. In reading through the entire lawsuit, I have to say one of the paragraphs is one of the more short-sighted I’ve ever read:
“88. First, a lack of funds is no defense to this suit. By statute, Defendants are empowered to spend whatever funds are necessary to find appropriate placements for every child in DCFS custody, including Plaintiffs and class members.”
So DCFS can just magically make money appear to create more placements for these youth in care? Not only is there the problem with residential facilities, there would also have to be enough foster parents to take the youth in care who would qualify for that placement type. As an aside, the Illinois Constitution states “The State has the primary responsibility for financing the system of public education,” and we’ve all seen how that’s worked out over the last 50 years. So that paragraph doesn’t mean a thing when it comes to the practical realities of social services in Illinois.
Also, I can’t help but feel pessimistic about this, or any, DCFS lawsuit. What is the end result going be, another consent decree like BH that is going be around for the next 30 years? There needs to be a fundamental change in the child welfare system, not just in Illinois, but nationally, and I just don’t see any political willingness to deal with it.
Comment by MyTwoCents Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 4:09 pm
Insider, it does seem to me that an awful lot of the severely behavior disordered youth come from parents who traumatize them and are, frankly, unable for one reason or other, to care for them in a generally acceptable manner.
If that’s not the cause, I actually would like to learn more.
Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 4:20 pm
Re: cermak rd
I read amalia’s initial comment as speaking to the wider population of DCFS youth in care. There are a wide variety of reasons that youth end up in DCFS care.
You speak to one cause, but there are numerous reasons troubled youth end up in DCFS care, so trying to pinpoint one as the root cause is foolish.
Comment by Insider Friday, Jan 20, 23 @ 5:28 pm