Just a few days after issuing its report into the LaSalle Veteran's Home COVID outbreak, the Auditor General’s office released the findings of another investigation, this one into the mismanagement of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Director Marc Smith has been held in contempt of court eleven times in the past few months over failures to properly protect children. Now the Auditor General is reporting that DCFS is failing Illinois children and is not in compliance with the law.
The audit found that DCFS is not keeping track of key information, not confirming that children in their custody receive mandated medical care, and doing a poor job of ensuring the safety of homes before returning children to them after they were initially removed. During the time period covered by the audit, 102 children in contact with DCFS lost their lives.