Rep. Steve Reick | Facebook / Steve Reick
Rep. Steve Reick | Facebook / Steve Reick
Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock) released a statement following a critical audit of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
“The report issued by the auditor last week shines a harsh light on a system that I think we all realize is broken beyond the point of repair,” Reick posted on his website. “I think it’s also important to note that this audit was of an act of a bill and an act that was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.”
The auditor general conducted the audit due to Public Act 101-0237.
The Illinois Auditor General’s review of DCFS found many failures, according to KPVI, such as failing to provide safety checks before returning children to their families.
“During the audit, DCFS told the auditors that they did not have the procedures in place to fulfill their responsibilities under the SACWIS system, and thus the auditors didn’t even look at what SACWIS was supposed to do,” Rieck said. “It wasn’t until after the exit interview that the auditors found out that DCFS in fact did have the procedures in place to do that, they did have the ability to keep track of referral services, all of which have a direct impact on the shortcomings I pointed out before.”
A law was named in honor of two-year-old Ta’Naja Barnes after her death in 2019 that required DCFS to complete home safety checks, but according to The Telegraph, the audit found that even though this is now required, it’s not happening.
“This audit was done pursuant to an act that (Gov. Pritzker) signed, the Ta’Naja Barnes Act, that gave rise out of the tragic death of young Ta’Naja Barnes,” Reick said. “This is his bill and there are shortcomings in this audit that need to be talked about, the most important of which are, that the act calls for home safety checks to be made before a child can be returned from foster care to his or her family. These checks are supposed to cover a broad range of safety issues and other issues dealing with keeping the child safe when he or she is returned to his or her home.”
The audit was released on May 12.
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