Defending Families Against DCFS

01/09/2024

Commentary on the media.
Illinois, January, 8th 2024.

Critically examining how the media protects the policy and procedure implemented by DCFS and the judicial authorities who neglect to act on behalf of justice and the rights of children and parents.

Described as a symptom of child placement option shortages, wards of the state in Illinois languish in institutions and facilities long after they should have returned home. State administrators and reporting media, fail to describe this crisis of child welfare mismanagement as the symptom of what it really is; Unbridled, unaccountable, authority to separate children from their families. Unwilling to admit the realities of state and federal laws, or state policy and procedure, granting exceptionally gross authority to separate children from their families far to frequently. Resulting in an over abundance of wards.
It is not more placement options that Illinois DCFS needs. It is not more money. Rather what DCFS needs is to stop removing children from families as often as they do. Rather than having only one option to end alleged child abuse and neglect: parent and child separation. The department should provide children and families with services that rehabilitate, unite, secure, and strengthen the resiliency and protective factors of Illinois families.

While the department continues to separate families rather than unite them, it will continue to neglect the welfare of wards whom it claims to be protecting.

Over 1,000 kids in Illinois Department of Children and Family Servicescare were kept in facilities longer than they needed to be, according to a report released

08/21/2023

Illinois
August 18, 2023

Ex-Illinois DCFS Employee, 14 Others Charged In $3.2M Fraud Scheme

A former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worker and 14 other people are accused of participating in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than three-million dollars in state funds intended for childcare services.

A federal indictment claims Shauntele Pridgeon orchestrated the fraud scheme from 2016 to 2022 while serving as a Community Social Service Planner for DCFS in Chicago. Pridgeon directed millions of dollars in state funds to the co-defendants for nonexistent childcare services. The co-defendants then paid bribes and kickbacks to Pridgeon totaling around one-point-six-million dollars.

https://www.effinghamradio.com/2023/08/18/ex-illinois-dcfs-employee-14-others-charged-in-3-2m-fraud-scheme/ #

Chicago, IL-(Effingham Radio)- A former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worker and 14 othe...

06/20/2023

Let’s celebrate our progress and share stories of family triumph during this National Reunification Month.

Written by Associate Commissioner Aysha E. Schomburg In a perfect world every family would have what it needs, whether that is concrete supports such as housing and cash, or even access to culturally appropriate

06/05/2023

Illinois June 1st 2023
The state of Illinois made a nine-year-old girl pay for a month's stay in a psych hospital that she didn't need.
A bill totaling over $30,000.
She was in the care of the state child welfare agency, DCFS, who defends the practice.

"A lot of the foster kids end up being homeless, they say. I can see why. DCFS is taking their money from them."

05/15/2023

Defending Families Against DCFS Illinois endorses the work of the Parental Rights Foundation and the EPPIC Podcast.

This week, Homeschool Legal Defense Association staff attorney Peter Kamakawiwoole returns to the Eppic Broadcast. Peter tells us about a case that he litigated on behalf of a mom who found herself dealing with an invasive CPS investigation including strip searches of her young children – all because she left her children in the car for a few minutes to buy coffee and muffins.

https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/challenging-cps-overreach-with-peter-kamakawiwoole/

This week, Homeschool Legal Defense Association staff attorney Peter Kamakawiwoole returns to the Eppic Broadcast. Peter tells us about a case that he litigated on behalf of a mom who found herself dealing with an invasive CPS investigation including strip searches of her young children – all beca...

05/06/2023

Diane Redleaf is working with Let Grow to pass legislation in Virginia and Utah that protects reasonable childhood independence, the idea that children should be able to pursue age-appropriate activities on their own without the threat of their parents being reported for child neglect. Reasonable independence laws have already been passed in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado, and Diane is hopeful to expand these laws to more states in the future.

https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/fighting-for-reasonable-childhood-independence-with-diane-redleaf/

This week, we welcome Diane Redleaf back to the Eppic Broadcast. Diane is the author of They Took the Kids Last Night and founder of the Family Defense Center. Diane is working with Let Grow to pass legislation in Virginia and Utah that protects reasonable childhood independence, the idea that child...

03/26/2023

No statutory authority permits a compelled drug screen in the context of a child welfare investigation, and the Fourth Amendment to the United States as well as Article I, Section of the Pennsylvania Constitution would render such a statute unconstitutional even if it did exist.
Drug screen results are unreliable and often inaccurate, and even positive drug screens are not evidence of inability to parent.
An expansion of Pennsylvania law
would have a disparate impact on families of color and poor families in a system already rife with race and class bias.




https://clsphila.org/family/pa-court-rules-no-drug-tests-child-welfare/

CLS contributed to a big victory for Pennsylvania families! On June 16, 2020 the PA Supreme Court unanimously held that Children & Youth agencies cannot force a parent to submit a drug screen in the context of a child welfare investigation.

03/02/2023

February 22, 2023
Illinois House Republicans


In 2018 the Illinois DCFS applied and was approved to obtain federal funds to serve Illinois families under the legal criteria of the Federal Law known as the Family First Preservation and Services Act.
However, DCFS would rather not change it's current Mode of Operation, receiving funds through the federal law known as ASFA, which pays the department to destroy families and seperated children from parents.

Thank you to Representative Steve Reick for demanding that more current federal laws be followed.

https://youtu.be/QkEdEI4lBjU

02/05/2023

State Representative Jennifer Sanalitro (R- Carol Stream) was proud to accept her committee assignments for the 103rd General Assembly. Rep. Sanalitro will now be serving on the following committees:

Adoption and Child Welfare
Childcare Access and Early Childhood Education
Housing
Prescription Drug Affordability
Labor and Commerce
Small Business, Tech Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

https://repsanalitro.com/2023/02/01/rep-sanalitro-assigned-to-key-committees/

State Representative Jennifer Sanalitro (R- Carol Stream) was proud to accept her committee assignments for the 103rd General Assembly. Rep. Sanalitro will now be serving on the following committees: Childcare Access and Early Childhood Education; Housing; Prescription Drug Affordability; Labor and....

02/05/2023

This 103rd General Assembly,
Adoption & Child Welfare Committee - Members are as follows:

Chairperson: Terra Costa Howard D
Vice-Chairperson: Lakesia Collins D
Republican Spokesperson: Steven Reick R
Member: Kam Buckner D
member: Margaret Croke D
Member: David Friess R
Member: Amy L. Grant R
Member: Norma Hernandez D
Member: Joyce Mason D
Member: Michelle Mussman D
Member: Suzanne M. Ness D
Member: Jennifer Sanalitro R
Member: Tom Weber R
Member: Ann M. Williams D

https://ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=2936&GA=103

The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.

02/05/2023

State Representative Weber of the 64th District in Illinois will serve on the Judiciary Committee, specifically the Civil, Adoption, and Child Welfare Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.

https://repweber.com/2023/02/01/weber-named-spokesperson-on-two-committees-assigned-to-six-in-total/?fbclid=IwAR1wniMTsgGpNGVhfTDseGIZmWC0CAuTFRU9njRX1hPJBPMRZeDZA0cYnYQ

State Representative Tom Weber (R-Fox Lake) has officially been assigned to serve as spokesperson for the Consumer Protection and Health and Human Services Appropriations Committees for the 103rd General Assembly....

01/26/2023

Family Justice Resource Center
Oct 18, 2022

Federal Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss in Krueger v. Petrak
In a new ruling, Judge Joe B. McDade, out of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, ruled on a Motion to Dismiss filed by the defendants involved with Krueger v. Petrak. The defendants include the following employees of the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS): Jennifer Inness, Alisa Collins, Kimberly Taylor, Leandra Tate, Raelyn Galassi, Austin Haddock, Anita Parker, Angelique Maxwell, Lindsay Horcharik, and Kimberly Wilson.

https://www.famjustice.org/post/federal-judge-denies-motion-to-dismiss-in-krueger-v-petrak

In a new ruling, Judge Joe B. McDade, out of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, ruled on a Motion to Dismiss filed by the defendants involved with Krueger v. Petrak. The defendants include the following employees of the Illinois Department of Child and Family Serv...

01/21/2023

Springfield
January 20, 2023



The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Thursday was named in a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of children in state care who have been held in juvenile detention centers after a judge ordered their release.

"These wrongful imprisonments and DCFS's years of unending persistence in them are among the most brazen constitutional violations I've witnessed as an attorney," said Megan Pierce, one of the attorneys who represent the plaintiffs. "Wrongful imprisonment is a violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

The lawsuit seeks to represent all individuals placed in DCFS care since Jan. 1, 2018, that spent at least seven consecutive days incarcerated after a court order for their release upon request. The plaintiffs estimated the class includes “well over 100 children.”

https://capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/dcfs-director-face-lawsuit-filed-on-behalf-of-jailed-wards

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Thursday was named in a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of children in state care who have been held in juvenile detention centers after a ...

01/18/2023

January 16, 2023
Montana

Montana is a candidate for distinction as the child removal capital of America. The state family police agency wants to keep it that way. That's why it's fighting an excellent bill.
If the bipartisan bill becomes law, Montana's family police agency will no longer be able to do whatever it damn well pleases to whomever it damn well pleases, and plead its own incompetence as an excuse.

https://www.nccprblog.org/2023/01/montana-is-perennial-candidate-for.html?m=1

If the bipartisan bill becomes law, Montana's family police agency will no longer be able to do whatever it damn well pleases to whomever it...

01/14/2023

Allegation 60 has been kicked around for too long, it's time to define what neglect actually is.

01/04/2023

January 3rd 2023
Chicago, Illinois

Amaria Osby was the 8-year-old girl murdered by her mother in an Uptown residence for "loving her father too much".
DCFS had made contact with the child and her caregiver but found no reason to take protective custody.

Meanwhile, Downstate rural and suburban DCFS offices take protective custody for allegation 60 unjustifiably all the time, without meeting the standards of the law. This practice of policy and procedure is less frequent in the city of Chicago, where the standard of an injurious environment is much much higher, due to the higher rate of poverty and lower quality of life lived by more of Chicago's poor, causing the DCFS to claim an injurious environment less frequently then they do downstate.
If a hotline-call for the same circumstances would have been made in DCFS region 1B the child would have been taken.
It is in this way that, Illinois citizens' right to equal protection under the law is railroaded by DCFS policy and procedure. The Illinois legislature must define more accurately when a child should be taken and when they should not.

Children's lives are at risk, the bonds between children and parents are at risk. Reform DCFS Now




https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/amaria-osby-dcfs-custody-murder/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

We have now uncovered new documents that may reveal there may have been more to the motive behind Amaria's murder​.

12/29/2022

News and commentary from the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform concerning child abuse, child welfare, foster care, and family preservation.
2022 year n' review. Vital research based and scholarly journals from the field.
Follow the link below
https://www.nccprblog.org/2022/12/blog-post.html?m=1

Among the year's highlights: This ad campaign from JMACforFamilies Instead of the usual highlights of the week, we look back at some of the ...

12/23/2022

From all of us at Defending Families Against DCFS.
We are with you all today remembering you always as we face the pain of parent and child separation around the holidays.
Defending Families against DCFS is committed to making the children's best interest the law of the land. Children deserve quality relationships with the men and women who make them.
Children and families deserve to be free from the fear of unnecessary child and parent separation. That is why Defending families against DCFS is committed to reforming the policy and procedure of the DCFS, and the 4 key state laws that give the DCFS unmatched and unchecked authority to destroy the Illinois Family.

Join Defending Families against DCFS today and start defending families in Illinois.

We cannot make the necessary changes without you!

11/02/2022

Family Integrity and Justice Works!

https://youtu.be/avevg0bqt8c

Family Integrity and Justice Works Commerical

10/22/2022

Defending Families Against DCFS Illinois, endorses the following event.

Family Integrity & Justice Works at Public Knowledge is hosting the kickoff webinar on Wednesday, November 2, The Harm of ASFA. Hear from national experts and advocates from across the U.S. follow the link below to register for the webinar.





https://pubknow.com/media-center/national-webinar-discussing-the-harms-of-asfa-coming-on-november-2/?utm_campaign=Child%20Welfare&utm_content=225517133&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-64496482

Family Integrity & Justice Works (FIJW) at Public Knowledge® is hosting a kick-off national webinar, The Harm of ASFA, on November 2, 2022.

10/21/2022

April 22, 2022
Alto Pass, Illinois.

"So when a DCFS investigator showed up at Schott’s door in September to again try to determine if he was neglecting his children, there was a good chance they would return to foster care. Their journey through the child welfare system raises an important question: For all the attention DCFS has given this family — and the thousands of other families facing intractable problems such as poverty, joblessness and substance abuse — are his daughters any closer to finding stability than when the agency first entered their lives?"

https://thesouthern.com/news/local/the-state-took-his-kids-three-times-and-three-times-it-gave-them-back/article_cb4e74a0-1b88-5320-8115-47dcc54126f3.html

Southern Illinois families often cycle through the state's child welfare system. But too often they don’t get the help they need.

10/20/2022

If you or someone you love has been negatively affected by the Illinois DCFS, and you live in one of the following counties listed below, please contact Defending Families Against DCFS.
We are embarking on positive reform efforts that can make lasting change to our great state of Illinois.

Rock Island
Henry
Bureau
La salle
Putnam
Marshall
Woodford
Tazewell
Peoria
Fulton
McDonough
Warren
Henderson
Mercer
Knox
Stark

09/04/2022

03/22/2022

Illinois March 17, 2022.

“I understand why Gov. Pritzker feels heavily invested in Director Smith,” Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R - Elmhurst) said. “But if six contempt of court orders is not enough of a wake-up call for Governor Pritzker that his approach isn’t working, what will be?”

Republican reps. Tom Weber (Lake Villa), Mazzochi, David Welter (Morris) and Reick called for “transformative” change this morning in the department, calling on Gov. JB Pritzker and his administration to try and reform the issues in the department.

https://www.week.com/2022/03/17/dcfs-need-transformative-change-republican-lawmakers-say/

Republican lawmakers are once again calling for reform of the Department of Children and Family Services.

03/20/2022

Parents, do not be ashamed of your responsibility. Your children are counting on you to stand up for them.

Do not be fooled by the quick, manipulative language of lawmakers, and associations of attorneys, who would tell you that your children,
whom are not legal citizens until 18, and whom are the responsibility of the adult citizen men and women, who make them;
that despite all of the above mentioned realities, that the "right's" of a child outside of state custody, are doomed to be derived from state fiction rather than the consent of the parents. Rights of children created to legitimize the production of empirical cause for State Child Custody. So that the rights of children in state custody could be described and legalized through the manipulation of the consent of dimwitted parent's, who do not know their rights as citizens.

03/11/2022

01/14/2022

Illinois: January, 12 2022

Defending Families Against DCFS reached out to the office of representative Durkin to thank him for all he is doing to hold the DCFS accountable. We plan to make more legislative contacts.




https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/durkin-calls-for-legislative-hearings-after-dcfs-leader-held-in-contempt/article_2431aff8-73d7-11ec-9aad-1f9be68a3c20.html

01/12/2022

Illinois: January 12th, 2022

Now, Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Burr Ridge, is demanding Smith be held accountable for the problems within the department.

“DCFS can’t say that, generally, we do a good job," Durkin said. "We have to do a good job for every kid. This is not like baseball where we are hitting .750, or we have a good batting average. We have to take care of every single one of these children. We cannot accept a failure for one or two."





https://newschannel20.com/amp/news/local/leader-durkin-calls-for-hearings-on-dcfs-after-director-held-in-contempt

A Cook County judge issued an order against Marc Smith, the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and held him in contempt on Thursday, Jan. 6. Now, Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Burr Ridge, is demanding Smith be held accountable for the problems....

01/12/2022

Illinois January, 11th 2022




"In the more than 30 years that I’ve been practicing in Juvenile Court, I cannot recall a single time when a judge has held the DCFS director – or any high-level DCFS official – in contempt of court," said Charles Golbert, the Cook County Public Guardian.

A judge is now holding the head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in contempt of court.
Cook County Judge Patrick T. Murphy issued the orders against director Marc Smith on Thursday.
The orders involve two different cases of children being held in a psychiatric hospital longer than necessary.
The judge says Smith and DCFS violated the rights of a nine-year-old girl and a thirteen-year-old boy by not having proper placement for them.

https://newschannel20.com/amp/news/local/dcfs-director-held-in-contempt-of-court-ordered-to-pay-thousands-a-day

A judge is now holding the head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in contempt of court. Cook County Judge Patrick T. Murphy issued the orders against director Marc Smith on Thursday. The orders involve two different cases of children being held in a psychiatric hospit...

01/08/2022

The Illinois state legislator is poised to present a bill designed to protect DCFS and contract employees, by legislating harsher punishments for people who assult DCFS and contract employees while on the job.
That's all well intended, but it is crucial that we as a community of parents who are the victims of state violence by the hands of DCFS, take this opportunity to provide legislative witness testimony to law makers. Testimony not designed to oppose the spirit of the bill but rather to have our voices heard, that until the DCFS is reigned in, the public at large will perceive them as a threat.
Until the rights of parents and children are preserved and protected the DCFS and its contractors will be perceived as a threat by parents and children.

Providing witness testimony can be don't online and training can be provided to anyone willing to provide testimony, by Defending Families. Send us a message of you want training.



The Illinois state legislator I posted to present a bill designed to protect DCFS and contract employees, by legislating harsher punishments for people who assult DCFS and contract employees whole on the job.
That's all well intended, but it is crucial that we as a community of parents who are the victims of state violence by the hands of DCFS, take this opportunity to provide legislative witness testimony to law makers. Testimony not designed to oppose the spirit of the bill but rather to have our voices heard, that until the DCFS is reigned in, the public at large will perceive them as a threat.
Until the rights of parents and children are preserved and protected the DCFS and its contractors will be perceived as a threat by parents and children.

Providing witness testimony can be don't online and training can be provided to anyone willing to provide testimony, by Defending Families. Send us a message of you want training.