Another DCFS tragedy

"Another child dies tragically while under the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services … and another director resigns in controversy." This was how I began a letter to the editor back in June of 2017 following the senseless death of 17-month-old Semaj Crosby. We are now informed of the horrific death of five year old AJ Freund, allegedly at the hands of his parents. Investigators located his tiny lifeless body this week in a shallow grave and charged both parents with murder. DCFS reportedly had a long history with AJ's family, dating back to 2012, a year before AJ's birth.

As has been repeated too many times before, this terrible case will be thoroughly investigated by multiple agencies. Individuals failing to act properly will be held accountable. The most recently involved caseworker and supervisor have both been restricted to administrative duties by the DCFS Director while the investigations ensue. If it is found they acted improperly there will be serious consequences, and there should be. Anyone failing to protect our most fragile and vulnerable citizens needs to be held to account. But … this is sadly an all too familiar reaction when these tragedies occur. So, what should we do?

I again suggest that we take a hard look at how DCFS measures "success." Everything is statistics and dollars driven. How many open investigations? How quickly are investigations closed? How many children are in foster care? How many are returned home? How many are adopted?

A little more than 20 years ago, DCFS privatized most of its caseload to various child welfare agencies. The concept of "Performance Based Contracting" was introduced, which rewarded high performing agencies (measured by successful "permanency outcomes" with financial incentives. Poor performing agencies were to be penalized.

I continue to believe that contact with a child welfare agency should be viewed in much the same way as contact with our prison system. It shows that there is already a systemic failure.In my opinion, there needs to be much more emphasis on education and resources for families that are struggling prior to any contact with DCFS. This will require a political commitment and significant financial resources in order to become successful. The present system is reactive, and expends too many resources trying to analyze what went wrong after a tragedy occurs. Let us seriously consider a paradigm shift with an emphasis on prevention. Early intervention with families that are identified to be in trouble can help reduce the risk of future harm to their children.

Marc Allen, the Acting Director, is the second DCFS Director to be appointed since the death Semaj Crosby in 2017. I believe that is 10 directors in the past seven years. This kind of instability is neither sustainable or successful.

Greg Newlin

Aurora