“DCFS has a lot of caring, motivated employees doing the incredibly difficult job of protecting children. But, what the agency is doing as a whole clearly isn’t working well enough. A director with vision and experience could help change that.” – State Senator Julie Morrison

SPRINGFIELD -  State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), chair of the Illinois Senate Subcommittee on Issues Relating to DCFS, is calling on Governor Pat Quinn to undertake a national search for the next director of the Department of Children and Family Services. The agency is on its fourth director in four months.

“DCFS needs strong, consistent leadership,” said Morrison, who is sponsoring several measures to help reform the struggling child welfare agency. “This constant turnover of the agency’s top post is putting abused and neglected children at risk. I believe Governor Quinn shares my concerns, and I urge him to undertake a national search.”

The turnover at DCFS began in November when then-director Richard Calica resigned due to health concerns. He has since passed away. Calica was replaced by Interim Director Denise Gonzalez, who served little more than a month before Governor Quinn appointed Arthur Bishop to take over the agency. Mr. Bishop resigned yesterday after a series of news reports questioning his fitness for the post. Yet another interim director will take over the head spot at the agency on Friday.

Sen. Morrison and her colleagues began raising questions about the performance of DCFS even before Calica’s resignation. Last year, the agency saw an increase in child deaths relating to abuse and neglect and a high-profile case where a young girl was allegedly murdered by her caretakers despite DCFS involvement.

“I got involved with this issue because I want to help DCFS get on course,” Morrison said. “The agency has a lot of caring, motivated employees doing the incredibly difficult job of protecting children. But, what the agency is doing as a whole clearly isn’t working well enough. A director with vision and experience could help change that.”

Morrison is sponsoring several measures to improve DCFS this year, including:

• Requiring DCFS to track its “safety plans.” Safety plans separate at-risk children from their parents by moving them to the homes of relatives or other familiar adults rather than into the foster care system; however, once the child is moved, the situation is not currently tracked or monitored in any meaningful way. (Senate Bill 2909)

• Funding the Child Welfare Loan Forgiveness Program, which was created to develop child welfare professionals and incentivize important training and qualifications without going into debt. (Senate Bill 2862)

• Requiring DCFS to make annual reports to the General Assembly about the effectiveness of its day care licensing system, which serves more than 300,000 children. (Senate Bill 3009)

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