Prairie State Wire

The mismanagement of children under state care has reached its peak levels, and legislators are calling out Gov. J.B. Pritzker on it. An executive of Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services has been held in contempt of court eight times, and Pritzker has taken no action against this. Now, legislators are raising questions on how long this will continue.

"It actually minimizes what's really going on here," Cook County Chief Deputy Public Guardian Alpa Patel said. "It's not simply an annoyance we are dealing with. We're talking about these children spending days, if not months, in places that they don't belong."

Marc Smith, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is being held in contempt of court for the tenth time since January, according to CBS News. This latest contempt citation concerns a young girl who has been shifted from shelters to psychiatric hospitals rather than being appropriately placed. The girl, who suffered sexual abuse at a young age, has been struggling due to DCFS' failure to find a placement for her, according to statements made in court.

Smith's ninth contempt citation concerned a 15-year-old boy whom the agency failed to place, instead of holding him in a psychiatric facility for months longer than was deemed medically necessary, CBS News reported. Because the contempt citations are civil rather than criminal, it is unlikely Smith will face jail time. Instead, the agency could be fined, but those fines would be paid with taxpayer dollars.

After Smith's eighth contempt citation, CBS News asked Pritzker how many more times Smith will be issued contempt citations before action was taken. The governor replied, "You're ignoring all of the progress that's been made at DCFS, and so is the decision to hold the department in contempt. The head of the `Department of Children and Family Services and I and the judge are frustrated with the challenges that we face for our most vulnerable children."

Pritzker appointed Marc Smith to the position of acting director of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in April 2019. The Illinois Senate confirmed Smith as director in June 2021.