DCFS Overlooked Family History In AJ Case: Report

SPRINGFIELD, IL — In her annual report to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, acting Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Inspector General Meryl Paniak wrote AJ Freund's case showed DCFS needed to provide more support for families and to "act decisively" to help children in families that "are broken," the Daily Herald reports. She added that in the AJ case, as well as prior child death cases, DCFS ignored the family's overall history, and, in particular in AJ's case, overlooked the "parents' long history of addiction, the mother's recent relapse, and the parents' isolation of the children from caring relatives and day care providers."

AJ Freund, 5, was first reported missing in April but was later found dead in a shallow grave near Woodstock, authorities said. His father, Andrew Freund, 60, led authorities to the grave where he allegedly buried his son. JoAnn Cunningham, 36, pleaded guilty in the beating death of AJ and Freund is awaiting trial in the murder case.

READ MORE:

• Read Indictment for Joann Cunningham, Andrew Freund
• New Details Released Following Cunningham's Guilty Verdict
• AJ Freund's Home Can Be Demolished

Paniak also wrote in her annual report that AJ's death was comparable to the 1993 murder of 3-year-old Joseph Wallace, which lead to the creation of the DCFS inspector general's office, according to the Daily Herald. In 2019, the inspector general's office investigated 123 child death and 24 of those children were murdered.

The inspector general investigations are required if the child who died had DCFS contact in the past 12 months, DCFS officials said.

Paniak's report calls on several changes, including quicker and better communication between caseworkers and supervisors involving intact family services cases, such as AJ's case, and calls on the state to invest in the help to make sure caseworkers and supervisors aren't overload with cases.

More via the Daily Herald