McHenry Times

A report by CBS Chicago that between January and May the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had kept 177 children in its care in its offices has spurred Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) to call for the ouster of Director Marc Smith

"The problems at DCFS are getting out of control and kids are being harmed and still JB Pritzker won’t fire Director Marc Smith," Bailey said. "There have been 177 kids who have had to sleep on office floors because of the incompetence of the J.B. Pritzker Administration. His failings are hurting kids and it has to stop. It is time for J.B. Pritzker to be held accountable for the house of horrors - AKA the Department of Children and Family Services – he is running. The insanity in this Department is getting out of hand. It is beyond time for DCFS Director Marc Smith to go. The fact that he is still there is all of the evidence we need that J.B. Pritzker does not deserve a second term."

The CBS Chicago story focused on a 5-year-old girl with autism who had slept at the department's office for almost a week.

"This is a child who is in DCFS's care due to concerns about abuse and neglect; and what does DCFS say to the little girl? Here. Here's an office. Go sleep on the floor of this office,” Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said, according to CBS Chicago.

Auditor General Frank Mautino's office discovered that DCFS “was unable to provide 192 of the 195 (98%) required Home Safety Checklists.” 

The checklist is to be completed by the department "whenever it is determined by a court that a child that has been court ordered into foster or substitute care can return to the custody of the parent or guardian," the Auditor General's report reads.

Smith has been held in contempt of court 12 times in a span of 12 months. One contempt order came because a 14-year-old was improperly held in a mental health facility. The judge in that case mandated that DCFS pay a daily fee of $1,000 until the child receives required care, CBS News Chicago also reported. 

Pritzker has continued to back Smith despite the court's decisions.