DCFS

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Thursday was named in a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of children in state care who have been held in juvenile detention centers after a judge ordered their release.

The 19 police reports that Department of Children and Family Services employees did not request during an investigation into whether AJ Freund, the 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy later killed by his mother, was being abused can be admitted as evidence, a judge ruled.

A man was charged with intimidating a DCFS investigator who petitioned a protective order against him that said he threatened her when she removed his child from his care. The charges were filed after an investigation of a reported shooting at the Joliet DCFS office.

An evaluation to determine if the Oregon woman accused of suffocating her 7-year-old son almost 18 months ago is fit to stand trial was given the go-ahead Thursday.

An out-of-county judge will be brought into the McHenry County courthouse to preside over the cases of two case workers charged criminally in connection with the death of a 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy killed by his parents in 2019.

The May 21 gunfire damaged the building's front windows and door.

In a statement, a DCFS spokesman said, “Out of an abundance of caution, the Joliet office is currently closed.”

The DCFS timeline of the reports and investigations of the Sauer family released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The 11-year-old girl at the center of the case has been in the care of DCFS since she was five

The Whiteside County coroner released the 3-year-old Nelson's girls cause of death.

The report found DCFS was unable to provide home safety checklists, which are mandated when a child leaves state care to be returned to their home, in 192 of 195 cases studied.

Even with recent budget increases – Gov. Pritzker and lawmakers have increased the DCFS budget by at least $100 million each year since 2019, including by $250 million this year – the effort to build back the lost placements has been slower than the decline.

A Cook County judge found DCFS Director Marc Smith in contempt. It’s the ninth time this year that Smith has faced contempt citations for failing to place children in settings that comply with the agency’s recommendations and court orders.

No one has been arrested for the April 2017 death of Joliet Township toddler Sema'j Crosby.

A McHenry County child welfare advocacy group created a display of children’s shoes in the Illinois Statehouse on Thursday to bring awareness of child abuse to legislators.