Rep. Tom Weber is making it a priority to reform the DCFS. | Facebook / Rep. Tom Weber
Rep. Tom Weber is making it a priority to reform the DCFS. | Facebook / Rep. Tom Weber
Illinois State Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) says his fellow lawmakers need to take a closer look at a report that found 171 children died while in contact with the Illinois Department of Children Family Services (DCFS) in 2022.
"The department is in charge of keeping all of our most vulnerable children, not just alive, but safe," Weber said in a Jan. 13 story by The Telegraph. "I can only describe it (the report) as disturbing."
The 248-page report by an inspector general of DCFS showed the 171 deaths represented a 40% increase over last year, and 49 more children died while in the custody of the department than in 2021. Weber, who asked for an audit of DCFS in April, said that means a total of 171 children died while on the department's radar or within 12 months of such contact.
DCFS Director Marc Smith has received eight contempt of court orders regarding the timely placement of youth, the Telegraph reported. This compelled Weber to look into DCFS and describe it as one of his biggest priorities of the year.
DCFS receives $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding annually, the Telegraph reported.
"It enrages me that we continue to see not only a lack of progress at DCFS but steps backward," Weber said. "There is a heartbreaking, human cost when this agency is so poorly managed, and the Legislature doesn't do anything."
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