The state child welfare agency under Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration has yet to fully implement changes Illinois lawmakers mandated in response to the neglect-related death of a downstate toddler during the two-term Democrat’s first month in office more than seven years ago, according to a state audit released Wednesday.
The report from Illinois Auditor General Christopher Meister’s office acknowledged some areas of improvement since a previous review but flagged continued trouble spots for Pritzker’s Department of Children and Family Services under the requirements of Ta’ Naja’s Law, a 2020 measure named after 2-year-old Ta’ Naja Barnes of Decatur. Ta’ Naja died in February 2019 of dehydration, malnourishment, cold exposure and physical neglect about six months after DCFS returned her to her mother’s custody.
DCFS has been under the microscope for decades, including during Pritzker’s nearly eight years in office. Ta’ Naja’s death happened shortly before Pritzker tapped Marc Smith, then an executive at a south suburban child welfare organization, to be the agency’s 15th leader in 16 years. Pointing to the previous churn at the top, Pritzker stuck with Smith for nearly 5 years, despite criticism of DCFS from the governor’s Republican detractors as well as some fellow Democrats.
The latest audit of the agency’s performance under Ta’ Naja’s Law covered 2023 and 2024, the period during which the governor replaced Smith with Heidi Mueller, the current DCFS director who has served in that post since February 2024. Among other issues, the 106-page report focused on a sample of so-called home safety checklists, which the agency is required to complete before a judge determines a child who has been placed in foster or substitute care can return to the custody of a parent or guardian. In that sample of 50 cases, DCFS was unable to provide 329 of the 399 required checklists, amounting to an 82% deficiency rate.
That statistic is still an improvement over the previous audit, released in 2022, in which DCFS could only provide three out of 195, or 2%, of required home safety checklists for a 50-case sample. But based on the two audit periods, Meister’s office concluded DCFS is still not adequately adhering to the requirement.
“The overall purpose of the Home Safety Checklist is to ensure that the environment the child is living in is safe and that the child’s parent or guardian is informed on proper child care,” according to the report. “When Home Safety Checklists are not performed as required, there is an increased risk of not identifying when a child is living in an unsafe environment.”
Pritzker’s office did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment. In an emailed statement DCFS spokesperson Lindsay Record noted that the time frame covered in the audit ended nearly two years ago and said the agency “has continued to make progress since that period.”
The department “is committed to continuous improvement to ensure the safety, stability and well-being of every child in our care,” Record wrote.
The latest audit also found children in the agency’s care are not receiving sufficient health screenings, such as checkups or dental exams, as required.
For 50 cases sampled, auditors could not find supporting documentation for 31 of the 196, or 16%, of mandated physical exams; 33 of the 114 vision screenings, a rate of 29%; and 52 of the 82 hearing tests, a 63% rate, according to the report. In addition, there was no documentation available for just over half, 171, of 336 required dental exams and cleanings, the report showed.
The report acknowledged some improvement, though, in DCFS demonstrating documented health screenings since the previous audit. Still, Meister’s office recommended DCFS “should ensure that all children in care receive their well-child visits/check-ups, including physical examinations, vision screenings, hearing screenings, dental examinations and cleanings, and mental health assessments.”
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What’s more, the audit noted staffing vacancies for three divisions within DCFS, Child Protection, Intact Family Services and Permanency. The Permanency Division, for instance, has 113 positions that were vacant out of 412, a rate of 27%, and it has a 28% vacancy rate for supervisors — 35 empty positions out of 123 total needed. Permanency workers address the safety goals of children entering “the least restrictive, most home-like environment” to meet their needs, the audit said, which may include independent living or psychiatric hospitalization.
Auditors’ other recommendations for DCFS included ensuring that home safety checklists are completed as required; that children returning home receive at least six months of “aftercare services”; that every child in its care receives age-appropriate immunizations; that it provides adequate supervision to review employee work performance; and that it has sufficient staffing to meet caseload demands.
Overall, DCFS agreed with Meister’s office’s recommendations.
“The Department will also continue performing monthly reviews of a sample of cases using a quality indicator tool to monitor compliance,” DCFS said in response to the auditors’ recommendation about the home safety checklists. “Feedback will be provided to the casework team after each review.”
Under the law, a home safety checklist must be completed within 24 hours before a child’s return home and completed again — “or recertified” if there are no “environmental barriers or hazards” — within five working days after a child is returned home. The lists are required monthly until each case is closed.
Regarding immunizations, DCFS said it “acknowledges the importance of maintaining accurate immunization tracking and ensuring youth in care receive timely preventative healthcare services.”
“The Department will continue to enhance and refine its immunization tracking processes through ongoing evaluation of available data sources, reporting mechanisms, and system capabilities in collaboration with internal and external partners,” DCFS told auditors.