DCFS Disaster

I read, with horror, excerpts from an Illinois Auditor General’s report on the state’s Department of Children and Family Services. In a nutshell, we are not protecting the most vulnerable citizens of the state……our children.

Let me give you a few examples….For instance, the child abuse hotline isn’t always staffed. Someone calls and has to leave a message. Over half of the calls received become a backlog.

The caseloads for investigators have mushroomed beyond federal limits. One DCFS veteran told a Chicago television reporter that the department was in crisis over two years ago…and now it is worse. Some child abuse investigators have a caseload of over 100. That is clearly unmanageable.

At the same time, the number of abuse or neglect reports is on the rise.  Investigators received 6800 calls in March alone. And each investigator has 60 days to close or outsource a case. Impossible.

All of these findings lead to one unmistakable reality. Our kids are being sacrificed because of Springfield’s inability to manage this vital safety net.

Our government is so misguided, so ridiculously inept, so miserably corrupt.

It’s not the fault of the professionals who work for DCFS. It’s the legacy of one-party rule and the stranglehold one man has over state government.

What happens next?

Likely, more neglect and abuse heaped on the children of Illinois.