Stark Criticism of DCFS At Ness-Reick Town Hall Meeting – Part 2

Continuing coverage of last Saturday’s meeting onthe Department of Children and Family Services by McHenry County Blog…

Foster care advocate testifies

Priscilla Harper

A Crystal Lake resident, Priscilla Harper, who has been bird-dogging the foster care system in Illinois since the 1980’s, brought expertise to the meeting.

“We do not prioritize underserved children,” Child Welfare Advocate Harper said as she began a presentation.

Information obtained by the Child Abuse Prevention Unit [the Hotline]is not passed onto the next unit in a timely fashtion resulting in prospective foster parents being inadequately prepared to care for children sent to them.

Harper shared a personal experience with one of her foster daughters–a sixteen-year old girl who had been sex trafficked.

She was promised theraputic care; it was not provided.

On the day of the girl’s arrival neither the caseworker nor the case manager nor the social worker came.

Not until a year later did the paperwork arrive.

It said the girl needed immediate psychiatric help.

She’s been gone a year and a half.

“I got her WIC [Woman, Infants and Children] card last week ]with which she could have obtained food]

“The state didn’t have a better address.”

Steve Reick

“This is a perfect example of the failure of case load management,” Reick interjected.

Harper told of being left a foster child with no information about the child, and no ability to to put the child in day care while she was at work.

She said she asked the DCFS worker trying to place the girl five question, a couple of which are below:

  • Was there any legal action?
  • Was there any drug abuse?
  • Was she a gang member?

The answer: “Oh, gosh, nothing like that.”

She later found the girl had been interviewed by the FBI and was a mmeber of the Latin Kings.

“They tried to fib their way into getting a bed,” Harper said.

The gang took her back to the streets.

Reick reminded those in attendance of the pimp who had been made a guardian of a sixteen-year old girl.

DCFS’ excuse was that he was not pimping the sixtreen-year old, he was pimping an adult.

Reick talked to the child abuse pediatic physcian at the University of Chicago Hospital and was told, “That kid was being pimped right now.”

“DCFS will promise almost anything to put a kid in a home,” Harper explained.

Summary of the conclusions drawn by Rep. Suzanne Ness’ Task Force.

Ness said the state is “moving from mandated reporters to mandated supporters.”

Youth Care Illinois came in for scathing criticism.

One parent made forty-four calls seeking a medical provider on the provided list.

“From the day a foster parent gets a call we need [a road map].

A foster care mother in attendance told of having to wait five months to even get approval for her child’s evaluation.

= = = = =

More tomorrow.


Comments

Stark Criticism of DCFS At Ness-Reick Town Hall Meeting – Part 2 — 5 Comments

  1. DCFS is simply another black hole of Gubment that is always in need of more money, more programs, and more employees, er um, Democrat employees.

    What’s needed is a complete audit of government jobs accountability versus those positions similar in the private sector.

    Ya know, those fiscally responsible companies who actually work and have employee work practices in place.

    This will never happen of course.

  2. Children are strictly used as a means of generating $$$ from the federal government and the citizens of Illinois.

    There are truly some great people working at DCFS but like all government programs the top levels are full of evil narcissistic officials.

  3. Cuke is right.

    We are led by the most stupid among us who are absoultly nothing but vapid dolts.

    But, to their credit, they run for office.

    The media has established a culture of personal destruction so the only people who run are either total dumbasses or they have dispositions don’t care that they are attacked mercilessly by the press.

    I’m not talking about being criticized for decisions, I’m talking about destroying themselves and their families in the press and purposely airing personal problems to sell newspapers/TV ads. The press loves personal destruction.

    Criticizing Rob Fetterman, Joe Biden, and Diane Finestein for their inability to function as independent adults is fair game. So is attacking Paul Ryan for profitting from his position as speaker.

    Attacking families and the personal attacks against the Trump family? Totally uncalled for.

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