Full Text of HR0038 103rd General Assembly
HR0038 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Family Services | 3 | | (the Department) (DCFS) is the sole agency responsible for | 4 | | receiving and investigating reports of child abuse or neglect | 5 | | made under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, As of the end of fiscal year 2022, the Department | 7 | | had conducted 97,400 investigations serving 22,911 youth; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2022, 171 children died after | 9 | | involvement with the Department, a 40% increase over the | 10 | | previous year; while this does not imply causation on the part | 11 | | of the Department, it does imply that the Department's efforts | 12 | | to prevent the death of children are not sufficient; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The projected budget of the Department for fiscal | 14 | | year 2023 is $1.8 billion; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Since the establishment of the Office of | 16 | | Inspector General (OIG) in 1993, the annual reports issued by | 17 | | the Inspector General have catalogued a consistent pattern of | 18 | | Departmental failures that unfortunately have contributed, | 19 | | through lack of action and negligence, to the deaths of | 20 | | hundreds of children in DCFS care over that period of time; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In her 1995 report, the OIG observed that "the | 2 | | prevalent over-emphasis on Department rules and procedures | 3 | | perpetuates the Department's isolation and fosters the belief | 4 | | that only Department employees are responsible for the | 5 | | well-being of children in Illinois. A more useful analysis | 6 | | considers whether practices should be changed so that | 7 | | Department employees, working with individuals from other | 8 | | disciplines, would be able to pinpoint situations in which | 9 | | death is a possibility or likelihood. By identifying the | 10 | | characteristics that have led to a death in the past and by | 11 | | utilizing the experiences of a variety of professionals, | 12 | | department employees will be in a better position to prevent | 13 | | future deaths."; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, In her 2022 Annual Report, the Department's | 15 | | Office of the Inspector General identified a systemic pattern | 16 | | of negligence in mandated child protection investigations in | 17 | | which there were significant delays in making initial contact | 18 | | with alleged child victims of abuse or neglect; in these | 19 | | cases, the Department failed to fulfill an essential | 20 | | responsibility in protecting children; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The Inspector General noted that several | 22 | | investigations conducted this year highlight the critical need | 23 | | for communication and collaboration among multiple entities; | 24 | | and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, From the above, it is apparent that shortcomings | 2 | | that were noted 27 years ago are still present in the | 3 | | Department; the result of this is the unfortunate litany of | 4 | | the deaths of children who are in the care of and are the | 5 | | responsibility of the Department; therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 7 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 8 | | it is our position that the time is long past for systemic | 9 | | changes to be made to the Department of Children and Family | 10 | | Services so that it can fulfill its mission to protect | 11 | | children and prevent the ongoing tragedy of child abuse and | 12 | | neglect that confronts us every year; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That we call upon the Governor and the executive | 14 | | branch as well as the Department of Children and Family | 15 | | Services to cooperate in every way that they can to assure that | 16 | | these changes will be made.
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