SPRINGFIELD — After carefully looking at the problems of the Department of Children and Family Services hotline, State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) requested an audit of the organization’s first contact with a case. Six months after recognizing a problem and initiating an investigation, DCFS responded to the senator’s request.

“Children need to have a guardian angel watching to make sure DCFS actually follows through with this and doesn’t get sidetracked with another issue,” Senator Morrison said. “I am committed to looking over the organization to ensure it is putting the well-being of children first.”

In May, Senator Morrison – who chairs the Senate Human Services Committee – requested a review of the DCFS’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline after a state audit highlighted issues with the hotline. Between 2015 and 2017, nearly half of all first-time hotline callers were sent to voicemail and were not contacted until days later, the audit found.

The newly released report made 11 recommendations to improve staffing, technology and efficiency that DCFS will adopt to fix the troubled hotline.

Senator Morrison met with DCFS Acting Director Marc Smith to discuss the report when it was released Wednesday. While the Senator is pleased with the outcome of the report, she will continue to push the organization to be more transparent about its challenges and needs going forward.