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* Hannah Meisel…
BREAKING: Illinois Dept of Child and Family Services Director Marc Smith announces on an agency-wide call that he's resigning from the state effective Dec. 31. @CapitolNewsIL story TK from @bhundsdorfer and me. pic.twitter.com/2gFfmlaNtA
— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) October 4, 2023
* CBS Chicago…
Smith, who was first appointed to the post in 2019, announced his resignation during a virtual town hall meeting for DCFS staff.
“After having some discussion with my family, and people who are part of our system who are important to me, and the way we think about the work, I wanted to announce today that I will be stepping down as director of DCFS,” Smith said.
* WGN…
In 2021, WGN Investigates cited data from Cook County public guardian Charles Golbert’s office which determined 356 kids had been hospitalized longer than medically necessary in the previous year. The average stay was 55 days longer than deemed medically necessary, according to the data. […]
In a statement issued Wednesday, Golbert said in part, “DCFS Director Marc Smith leaves a mixed legacy. On the one hand, in serving for four and a half years, Smith brought much needed consistency in leadership after DCFS rotated through 13 different directors and acting directors over the prior ten years. … On the other hand, over four and a half years and despite the increased resources, Smith failed to substantially expand desperately needed placement capacity. As a result, under Smith’s watch, we started to see children sleeping on the hard, cold floors of offices instead of in a warm, comfortable bed in an appropriate placement for the first time since the 1990s. This is now happening to hundreds of children every year. … The placement shortage crisis is so bad that Smith holds the dubious distinction of being the only director in DCFS’s history to be held in contempt of court a dozen times for failing to place children appropriately in violation of court orders. … During Smith’s tenure, hundreds of children have died despite DCFS involvement. At least a dozen of these deaths were high profile in the new media. This is likely, at least in part, because DCFS still has a 20% vacancy rate for investigators. DCFS has been in violation of the investigator caseload mandates of a federal consent decree for many years. … So Smith leaves a mixed legacy.”
* Sen. Craig Wilcox…
“Here in McHenry County we have a constant reminder of the failings of DCFS, as the senseless and avoidable death of AJ Freund is never far from people’s minds. The problems at this agency are vast, and simply replacing the Director will not solve them. The fact that many of the findings in the most recent Auditor General’s audit of DCFS are repeat findings clearly illustrates the agency is not taking these findings to heart and making necessary changes, and the fact that the new report identifies even more problems than the last audit is unacceptable. Until our Governor recognizes the dire need for a structural rebuild of DCFS from the ground up, I fear it is only a matter of time until another child experiences a tragic outcome due to negligence by the agency that is supposed to protect them.”
* Sens Steve McClure and Sally Turner…
“Protecting and caring for our state’s most vulnerable children and families is an incredibly important responsibility of the Governor’s administration. As the recent compliance audit makes crystal clear, the issues with DCFS aren’t getting better, the situation actually appears to be getting worse. We hope the Governor takes this opportunity to finally fix the issues that plague DCFS and have led to heartbreaking stories of children waiting months for placements, or those who tragically have lost their lives.
“Unfortunately, the issues with DCFS go much deeper than one appointed leader, the problems are systemic. Governor Pritzker needs to undertake a comprehensive review of agency operations, prioritizing solutions that protect children who cannot protect themselves.”
* Sen. Don DeWittee…
“Having met with Marc Smith and members of his staff on many occasions, it is clear he recognizes the problems at DCFS run very deep. Unfortunately, our Governor has refused to make the same acknowledgement or take steps to fix this agency from the ground up. Changing the individual at the helm is not enough to fix DCFS; deep organizational changes are needed to prevent tragedies like the murder of AJ Freund of Crystal Lake from happening again. We need to seek national expertise and identify best practices from states that are doing a good job with the welfare of children, because the system in place in Illinois is clearly failing the most vulnerable children and families among us.”
* NASW IL…
Long overdue. Can we please get a replacement with a stronger moral compass, a sense of urgency the department demands, and an operational reform background. The next Directir doesn't have to be here for 10 years - they have to be here long enough to reform it. https://t.co/wtDPHyfyNd
— Kyle Hillman (@kylehillman) October 4, 2023
* House Minority Leader Tony McCombie…
“DCFS is undeniably a dysfunctional agency in our state, and immediate change is critically necessary. As children in our care and agency workers continue to be harmed or worse, the House Republican caucus will strongly advocate for common-sense proposals to structurally reform the functions of the agency. It is our duty to protect children in the state’s care.”
* Illinois Collaboration on Youth…
On behalf of the Board and members of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth, I want to thank DCFS Director Marc Smith for his service to our state. Director Smith is one of our longest- serving directors in recent memory and he brought much needed stability to our system.
When Governor Pritzker took office, Illinois was reeling from the wanton destruction of our health and human services system brought on by the budget impasse. Child welfare services are always a lagging indicator of the functionality of that system, and as predicted, the number of children and youth in care exploded following the impasse, putting an enormous strain on a system that had been neglected for nearly two decades. Governor Pritzker and Director Smith had only just begun to respond to this situation when they were forced to navigate the uncharted waters of a global pandemic. Illinois’ child welfare system had one of the best responses to COVID-19 in the nation; we salute their leadership in this area.
Thanks to the Governor and Director Smith, Illinois has seen five consecutive years of investments into the child welfare system to help it better cope with the growing population and the ongoing workforce crisis. We have also seen the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act and the transition to YouthCare, as well as funding for capital expansion and building capacity in our residential treatment programs.
While there remains much more to do to improve outcomes for children and families, we are looking forward to the full implementation of the Governor’s Blueprint for Transformation, and continued collaboration with the new leadership to come.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:41 am
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I hope they find someone great I hope they can reform and make agency a model for the country. I doubt it. What a tough job. Good luck and good luck and good luck to all the children
Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:56 am
Hire Greg Harris (banned punctuation).
Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 10:57 am
Here’s hoping this isn’t a dog catches car moment. All children, especially those under government custody, deserve the world.
Comment by Lake Villa Township Dem Pc Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:14 am
I have zero knowledge of the higher up workings of DCFS. But I do have a fair amount of interaction with front line DCFS as part of the foster parent process. All that I’ve worked with were professional thru and thru, but looked woefully overworked and tragically underpaid. And that’s not even accounting the mental anguish of the topics they deal with on a daily basis.
Comment by jimbo Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:26 am
For all of the equity talk from the State, I’m amazed at how little effort, attention, or resources so many underequipped employees and vulnerable persons working at or needing assistance from this agency have received.
Comment by DuPage Dad Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:27 am
Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. Until the Legislature and Governor give a Director Carte Blanc over personnel hiring and firing procedures, and an unlimited budget, nothing much will change except the name of the person being blamed for the agency’s shortcomings.
Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:47 am
Pritzker creating different standards of accountability for different department heads is inexplicable. Sen Sullivan resigned over an email, whole Smith has overseen incompetency after incompetency with zero improvement.
If you are from outside the Chicagoland area just know your leash will be shorter if you want this job.
Comment by Almost the Weekend Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:50 am
“… nothing much will change except the name of the person being blamed for the agency’s shortcomings. ”
Spot on. Hasn’t DCFS been in federal court continuously since early Thompson? Talk about cleaning the Augean Stables …
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:51 am
===Pritzker creating different standards of accountability for different department heads is inexplicable.===
“…serve at the pleasure of the governor”?
IDOC, DNR, DCFS, IDOT, agencies that only bring bad headlines to the general take of their missions… you also don’t take any appointment thinking that politics, pressure, or posture won’t be factored in to how one does the job or how one keeps the job.
It’s exactly why… personnel *is* policy
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:55 am
== Talk about cleaning the Augean Stables … ==
or Sisyphus
Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 11:58 am
Nothing will change unless the hiring system is changed in Illinois. It takes months and months to get hired, and the constant shortage in DHS, DCFS, and other agencies contribute to the lack of continuity, and lack of care for those of the most vulnerable among us.
Comment by Grateful Gail Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:18 pm
Legislators can just cut Smith’s name out of their old press releases, paste in whoever the new director ends up being, and they’ll have them ready to reissue for their grandstanding!
Comment by Google Is Your Friend Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:25 pm
Kyle Hillman should come off the sidelines and put his application in. Let’s be honest, that’s never going to happen. Just like none of the legislators who criticize Smith would ever want the job. Heck, lots of legislators who criticize Smith don’t even vote for the DCFS budget.
Comment by Jimmy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:33 pm
Bruce Rauner’s enablers dismantled DCFS’s budget and destroyed private providers who are partners to DCFS across the state. And here they are with clarity about accountability. Hold yourselves accountable.
Comment by Oberbay Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:36 pm
So OW with this logic. What do you call an email that Sullivan was cc’d on and never responded?
Comment by Almost the Weekend Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:41 pm
===What do you call===
“… at the pleasure of the governor”
It’s not like I said it’s perfect, right, or even just, and I can easily see the Sullivan side, but that doesn’t change how these positions roll.
Again, doesn’t mean it’s right, just, or fair, or siding with any administration making any change…
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 12:49 pm
Always good to get Kyle Hillman’s input since he’s never met a problem that he fails to articulate any ideas on how to fix. I’d love to see his detailed plans on making DCFS better beyond the expert level analysis of “hire more people” and “pay people more.” Thank god Kyle is around, no one ever thought of that.
Making substantive critiques is reasonable but he should apologize for saying that Marc Smith doesn’t have a strong moral compass after Smith has spent his career trying to make things better. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt: the credit belongs to the man in the arena, not the one reenacting Statler and Waldorf from the cheap seats on Twitter.
Comment by SIUSaluki Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 2:02 pm
Heckuva job, Smithie.
Comment by SWSider Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 2:09 pm
I love all the legislators complaining about the problem when they have never voted one dollar to fix it.
This is a seriously intractable problem that will take loads of money and hiring, but it is hard to find that kind of money when we are living in a resource-limited world as pensions get paid back. But that shouldn’t stop the Governor, staff, and private agencies from working on it like the emergency that it is.
Comment by Jibba Wednesday, Oct 4, 23 @ 2:31 pm