Kendall County Times

Republican lawmakers are demanding answers after Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Director Marc Smith was recently held in contempt of court for what they essentially view as not doing his job.

CBS2 reports a Cook County Juvenile Court judge recently issued two contempt of court orders against Smith on the grounds he violated the rights of two children by leaving them neglected for prolonged periods of time. In addition to the legal orders, DCFS could also face fines of as much as $2,000 a day until the judge deems those children properly placed.

“Illinois House Republicans have called for immediate hearings and an investigation after state Smith was held in contempt of court for violating the rights of children,” state Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-North Aurora) posted on Facebook.

One of the two contempt of court orders issued against Smith reportedly focuses on a 9-year-old girl who was physically and sexually abused for years before entering the care of DCFS.

Agency officials later placed the girl in a psychiatric hospital, where she remains despite the fact that she was cleared for discharge in June 2021. The other contempt order issued against Smith focuses on a 13-year-old boy who was forced to sleep in a storage room.

Earlier this month, Durkin sent a letter to Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Chicago), the Chair of the House Appropriations Human Services Committee, demanding that she convene a hearing on the failures at DCFS.

“The Department of Children and Family Services receives over a billion dollars in state support annually,” Durkin said in his letter. “It is tasked with protecting the state’s most vulnerable residents, a mission both Republicans and Democrats can agree is essential to the state. That is why it is so heartbreaking to see that DCFS Director Marc Smith is being held in contempt of court for failing to do his job.”

Durkin worries that the agencies' troubles may actually run deeper.

“Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents,” he said in a post to his website. “Under the Pritzker administration, more than 350 children have been left to languish in psychiatric care despite having been cleared to move on to a family setting. The unprecedented step by the Cook County judiciary to hold Director Smith in contempt needs to be a wake-up call to the General Assembly.”

Durkin is calling on Lilly, to “immediately convene hearings with Smith on the issue,” adding “the taxpayer dollars that have been allocated to DCFS are clearly not being spent the way the General Assembly intended, and the core mission of DCFS is not being fulfilled. It is the duty of your committee to immediately investigate this matter, our children can’t wait.”