Kendall County Times

State Representative Jed Davis (R-Yorkville) has called for urgent action and accountability after finding that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) allowed uncertified interns to investigate families, which led to children being removed from their homes.

“This collapse of lawful procedure isn’t a clerical error — it’s a moral failure and legal disaster,” said Rep. Davis. “DCFS is conducting formal child abuse investigations with uncertified interns, despite laws requiring certification before an investigator touches a case. Families are paying the price.”

According to Illinois law, specifically the Child Protective Investigator and Child Welfare Specialist Certification Act of 1987 (225 ILCS 420/) and related statutes, only certified professionals may conduct child welfare investigations. These requirements are intended to protect children, uphold family rights, and ensure that only trained individuals make significant decisions affecting families.

“DCFS does not have the power to rewrite law for convenience,” Davis continued. “For years, the agency has allowed uncertified interns to conduct and carry out abuse and neglect investigations, file legal findings, and initiate family separations. This disregard for the law is both dangerous and unacceptable.”

Internal records show that DCFS has previously acknowledged these certification requirements in federal reviews dating back to 2009. The statutory mandate remains unchanged.

“Picture your own family under investigation,” Davis said. “Picture your child removed — not by a trained, certified professional, but by an intern who never met the legal standard. This abuse of authority has inflicted trauma on countless families and undermined trust in our child protection system.”

Davis is urging the Pritzker administration to immediately halt the use of uncertified interns in investigative roles, review all cases involving such practices, hold DCFS leadership accountable for violations of state law and parents’ rights, and restore lawful procedures within the agency.

In addition to calling for immediate reforms, Davis plans legislative measures including an online verification system so parents can confirm the credentials of any DCFS employee or investigator.

“If someone knocks on your door claiming authority to investigate your family, you should know right then if they’re legally certified — no hiding, no guessing, no exceptions,” Davis said. “This misuse of interns is more than a policy issue — it’s a violation of rights, a threat to the next generation, and a betrayal of trust. Families across Illinois deserve an agency honoring the law, not one rewriting it. I will pursue every legal and legislative remedy to ensure this practice ends now.”

Attorney Jared M. Schneider of Schneider Law, P.C., who has been involved in cases where uncertified interns led investigations stated: “Our office has been investigating this issue for over five months. Under Illinois law, only those DCFS employees who have been certified as Child Protection Specialists or, in limited circumstances, Child Welfare Specialists, can conduct investigations into allegations of child abuse or neglect, make final determinations about those allegations, or decide to remove children from their parents.”

“For years, if not decades, Illinois has represented to the public that its DCFS investigators had significant, directly related professional experience working alongside veteran specialists before their certification to conduct investigations on their own. Experience is crucial in these cases to ensure that these investigators have the practical knowledge to follow DCFS’s rules and procedures in their investigations, and safeguard parents’ constitutional rights to raise their children without undue interference from the State. Allowing uncertified and inexperienced interns to conduct investigations on their own, without boots-on-the-ground oversight creates the dangerous potential for the State to tear children away from innocent parents. Our office fully supports Representative Davis’ push for greater transparency, accountability, and adherence to the rule of law by DCFS,” Attorney Schneider said.

Illinois statutes require both certification as a Child Protective Investigator or Child Welfare Specialist under state law as well as licensure as a Direct Child Welfare Service Employee before anyone can begin work investigating child abuse or neglect (see https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/002005050K5c.htm). Skipping either requirement constitutes a violation rather than an administrative choice.

Davis was elected as a Republican representative for Illinois' 75th House District in 2023 after replacing David Welter.