McHenry Times

Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock) and several other House Republicans want to hold the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) accountable after several children’s deaths.

He said this is a reoccurring issue from the organization.

“We can’t have that,” Reick said. “Adding to this is the fact that agencies that place kids in foster care are now losing their insurance coverage. I just got a call two weeks ago from one of the largest agencies in the state who told me about the fact that insurance companies are pulling out of Illinois.”

He also said he wants the cycle to end for these children.

“This is a cycle and it doesn’t seem to end,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to end because we're focusing on the wrong problem. We’re focusing on family rehabilitation when we should be focusing on the benefits and the welfare of children.”

Rep. Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake) also called out the DCFS for its lack of action in several cases.

 “Over the last several years, DCFS has been marred by tragedies and lapses,” Weber said on his website. “In the last decade, 1,122 children who were under the protection of DCFS in some capacity have died.”

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services director Marc Smith has been held in contempt of court six times. The most recent order involves the agency sending a 16-year-old girl in foster care to nearly 25 different placements, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The most recent contempt of court order is the fourth in six weeks. 

The State Journal-Register reported 19-month-old Sophia Faye Davis died on Feb. 8. In her final month of life, child abuse allegations were dismissed. Cierra Coker, the girlfriend of Davis’ father, was charged with first degrees of murder and aggravated battery to a child. She is accused of beating the toddler to death.

ABC7Chicago reported in 2020, AJ Freund, a five-year-old boy, was murdered by his parents and hid in a shallow grave in Crystal Lake. The two former DCFS workers who oversaw his case were charged with endangering the child’s life. Their cases have been going through the courts.