James Marter | Facebook / James Marter
James Marter | Facebook / James Marter
Kendall County’s Republican Party Chairman James Marter is dismayed by the allegations in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and is calling for an agency overhaul.
“I listen to reports on some cases over there and it's absolutely heartbreaking,” Marter told the Kendall County Times. “We need to do a better job across the board.”
The lawsuit charges that DCFS officials “willfully and wrongly” left dozens of children behind bars, sometimes for weeks, even though judges had ordered their release to guardians.
Teenager Janiah Caine is one of the defendants. She was held for almost six months, over three different occasions, as she got lost in the system.
"You don't feel safe,” Caine told ABC7 of conditions. “The staff don't make you feel safe either. They're not respectful to you. They treat you like nothing.”
The Office of the Cook County Public Guardian released statistics that show that as recently as 2021 there were 84 instances of children left locked up for prolonged periods of time with at least seven of them remaining in custody to this day.
“Look at the number of kids killed in a single-year where DCFS was aware of them and it still happened. That tells you the change that’s needed is huge,” Marter said.
Marter has theories on Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's involvement.
“Maybe he knows about all the corruption over there when it comes to the hiring practices,” Marter hypothesized. “Maybe he knows Democrats are simply using the agency as a political hiring ground and doesn't want to have to talk about it.”
He lamented the problem. “It’s a tragedy when we lose just one child, but we’re talking hundreds in just one year,” he said.
Last year, State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) called for a “complete overhaul” of the agency, the DuPage Policy Journal reported.
Marter agrees something like that might be needed.
“There are simply too many problems and the agency needs to be torn apart and rebuilt with people that have the right focus and commitment,” he said.