HR1180 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1180 LRB097 22168 MST 70899 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Ardis W. Cook on her 38 years of service to the Department of Children and Family Services; and

WHEREAS, In 1975, as a student intern, she received a commendation from the National Adoption Listing Service as having placed and completed the most adolescent adoptions in one year; and

WHEREAS, In 1976, Ardis Cook began her career at DCFS as the sole intake worker for Vermilion County; she investigated child abuse and neglect cases as well as provided services to dependent children and on prevention situations; and

WHEREAS, In 1980, due to the Child Abuse Hotline being revamped into a statewide reporting tool, as well as the forming of the new Division of Child Protection, Ardis Cook took part in the development of new rules, procedures, and protocols; and

WHEREAS, In 1986, she was promoted to the newly created position of Regional Child Protection Manager in which she excelled in the further development of programs designed to protect children; she assisted in various training curriculum development and became a certified practicing trainer; and

WHEREAS, In 1992, Ardis Cook was appointed by then Director of the Department to one of the B.H. reform panels in response to a major lawsuit concerning the caseload sizes and standards in cases assigned to the workers; and

WHEREAS, In 1994, Ardis Cook worked with national experts to develop and train the others in the concept of the difference between safety and risk for children; she held training sessions for both state employees and well as private agency staff; she was selected to tutor and train staff that had difficulties with understanding the application of the concepts; all of the people who attended her review training sessions passed the certification test; and

WHEREAS, In 2003, Ardis Cook was promoted to the Assistant to the Deputy for Child Protection for downstate Illinois; she still volunteered many hours assisting special projects in Cook County, conducting special reviews, and mentoring both old and new supervisors in order to improve the overall improvement of services to families; her most recent assignment was to assist with a caseload reduction project in the St. Clair County and Madison County areas; and

WHEREAS, In 2012, Ardis Cook became a role model and staff mentor for the northern region of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Ardis W. Cook for 38 years of service to the Department of Children and Family Services; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Ardis W. Cook as a symbol of our esteem and respect.