SR1229 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1229 LRB103 42752 MST 75993 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) have an obligation to protect the State's children, our most vulnerable population, from abuse and mistreatment; and

WHEREAS, In June of 2024, Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center, located on Chicago's South Side, was shut down by the Pritzker Administration; and

WHEREAS, Once elevated by Governor JB Pritzker as a model for how Illinois would serve abused foster children with mental health diagnoses, Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center now faces extreme scrutiny for several serious allegations of abuse; and

WHEREAS, Of the alleged youth abused at Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center, many were court-ordered and supervised youth that were placed there in a vulnerable state seeking needed sanctuary; and

WHEREAS, According to recent news outlets, the reasons for the sudden closure extend far beyond several allegations of heinous abuse, revealing oversight failures at the facility dating back to its launch; and

WHEREAS, Further allegations reveal years of cover-ups by Pritzker's top aides, persuasion by a 34-year DCFS veteran to backdate critical child protection plans amid an independent investigation by the agency's inspector general, and oversight inefficiencies regarding staff background checks and hiring; and

WHEREAS, The long list of allegations that have been overlooked by State officials for years includes sex trafficking of minors, staffers who should never have been hired in the first place because of disqualifying prior arrests, overlooked claims of guards using sexual innuendos with children, staffers sleeping on the job, staffers sharing pornographic videos among themselves at work, and thousands of reported violent attacks among young residents; and

WHEREAS, Officials at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services offered a delayed response to the situation at Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center and began to monitor the facility with 24-hour on-site supervision in May, nine months after the first report of sexual assault by a staffer; within weeks, the facility was shuttered; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Auditor General is directed to conduct an audit of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) handling of contracts and administration related to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services Inc.; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) An examination of contracts specifically related to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services Inc. that includes, but is not limited to, abuse, background checks, staff hiring, the backdating of protective plans to determine the extent contracts were monitored, whether staff were properly screened and hired, and whether all allegations of abuse and mistreatment were properly investigated;

(2) An examination of the spending of State funds at Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services Inc; and

(3) Whether Illinois State officials acted outside of the law regarding the allegations of abuse and oversight at Aunt Martha's; and be it further

RESOLVED, That DCFS and any other State agency or entity having information relevant to this audit are urged to cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's Office in the conduct of this audit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct the Auditor General to commence this audit as soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations upon completion in accordance with the provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Auditor General and the Director of the Department of Children and Family Services.