8 Children Dead In 8 Months Under Illinois DCFS's Watch: Court Filing

CHICAGO, IL — Eight children connected to the state's Department of Children and Family Services have died since December, while the agency’s director has been held in contempt of court 12 times so far this year, according to a filing that detailed the department’s recent failings.

The document, filed in anticipation of a status hearing Wednesday in federal court, explained the various ways in which the agency has continuously violated a 1991 consent decree governing its operations, and called for enforcement measures.

“Systemic relief is needed now,” said the filing, prepared by the office of Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert. “DCFS must be held to the reforms it promised more than 30 years ago in the consent decree.”

Among those who died despite the state’s involvement were 2-year-old Jordan Walker, who was killed by a traumatic intestine rupture due to abuse, and 8-year-old Amaria Osby, whose mother placed a plastic bag over her head just hours after a DCFS worker left the home, according to the filing. The agency had received a report that Amaria was potentially at risk two months before she died.

“DCFS refused to release information about its involvement with the family for more than
a week, citing confidentiality rules,” the filing said. “Of course, there is no longer any confidentiality to protect for Amaria. … There is little hope for meaningful change so long as DCFS continues to hide behind confidentiality rules intended to protect vulnerable children when its malfeasance results in harm or death to a child.”

DCFS told both WLS and WGN that the supervisor and investigator assigned to Amaria's case were no longer performing child protective duties.

In addition to the deaths, DCFS Director Marc Smith has been held in contempt of court 12 times since January after failing to appropriately place children who were under the agency’s watch, according to the filing.

These children include a 7-year-old girl who spent seven months “locked up inappropriately in a psychiatric hospital” and a girl who was moved between placements 25 times in two months, the filing said. Dozens of children are also incarcerated in juvenile detention centers despite being cleared for release to a guardian, according to the filing.

“This is time the children will never get back,” the filing said.

DCFS has failed to comply with the safety reforms outlined in Ta’Naja’s Law, named for 2-year-old Ta’Naja Barnes, who died in 2019 of dehydration, malnourishment, neglect and cold exposure, according to the filing. The agency is plagued by a “crisis-level shortage of investigators” and is neither accountable nor transparent, the filing said.

“There must be consequences — up to and including contempt of court findings and heavy sanctions — for not meeting the timelines and for further violations of the consent decree,” the filing said.

In a statement to WLS and WGN, DCFS affirmed its mission.

“The Department of Children and Family Services is deeply committed to protecting vulnerable children and strengthening families, and the loss of any child has a profound impact on the entire agency,” the department said.