Chicago Tribune Reports
A new report released Thursday detailed additional problems at the state’s troubled Department of Children and Family Services that could “result in further endangerment” of the children the agency is charged with protecting.
The report from Illinois Auditor General William Holland found that the agency failed to investigate in a timely manner more than 300 allegations of child abuse and neglect in fiscal years 2013 and 2014. While the number of reports represented less than 1 percent of total cases, the finding was compounded by the department’s untimely determinations of abuse and neglect in 6 percent of those cases.
“Failure to make timely determinations of reports of abuse and neglect could delay the implementation of a service plan and result in further endangerment of the child, and is a violation of the (Abused and Neglected Child Reporting) Act,” according to the report.
The finding was not new for the embattled state agency, which has had seven directors in three years and seen its budget slashed. The auditor general’s office first reported the delays in determining abuse and neglect cases in 1998. Read More