Not even a month into her job, the leader of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was before an Illinois House committee Thursday. The Adoption and Child Welfare Committee was taking testimony about foster care.
Acting director Heidi Mueller told lawmakers what DCFS is doing.
“We want to right-size the system, and I think the best way to do that is to make sure that we have robust resources in the community that can support families and kids early on – before we ever get to the point where we need to have a hotline call.”
Foster parents who spoke to the committee included Priscilla Harper. “We had a young woman who was a victim of sex trafficking, a member of a gang, dependent on drugs and alcohol, etc., etc.,” without any prior information for Harper. That, she said, leads her to believe the person doing the placement is either a liar or simply uninformed of the situation.
Harper said just in the time she was testifying remotely, she received texts from other foster parents telling her about “foster children being placed with sex offenders, with a pimp, and with foster parents who have had, quote-unquote, sex parties with their children.
“So while it sounds quite tidied-up, there is tremendous concern on our part.”
Foster parent Rev. Jason Brannan said, “A lot of information falls through the cracks. We’re on our first placement, but we’re on our third agency and at least our ninth caseworker. The fragility of the system almost assures that some children will get lost.”
“Your words do not go unheard,” said the committee chair, State Rep. Terra Costa Howard (D-Glen Ellyn). “We hear you, we see you, and we see your chlidren.”
Costa Howard said her committee and DCFS have not seen the last of one another.