Full Text of HR0986 100th General Assembly
HR0986 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The mission of the Illinois Department of Child | 3 | | and Family Services (DCFS) is to promote prevention, child | 4 | | safety, permanency, and well-being by bringing the voices of | 5 | | Illinois children and families to the forefront and building | 6 | | trusting relationships; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Every child and family in Illinois deserves to | 8 | | live safe, happy, and healthy lives in their communities; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, For 35 years, DCFS released monthly data reports | 10 | | of incidents of child abuse, including the number of repeat | 11 | | calls to the agency for children who have already been found to | 12 | | be abused, and data to indicate the number of those reports | 13 | | that were "priority one" cases where children are in immediate | 14 | | physical danger; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, That data has been necessary for the general | 16 | | public to understand child abuse trends; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, DCFS ended its 35-year practice of voluntarily | 18 | | reporting data about child abuse to the public in July of 2017, | 19 | | and subsequently refused to comply with requests from advocates | 20 | | to release the data; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, DCFS failed to respond to requests for the data | 2 | | from former wards of the State (now called Youth in Care) for | 3 | | eight months, withholding that information until an official | 4 | | FOIA request was made; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The data released from the FOIA request, though | 6 | | incomplete, is alarming and shows that the number of children | 7 | | re-abused after DCFS involvement has skyrocketed 50% since | 8 | | 2015; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, DCFS has publicly questioned its legal obligation | 10 | | to release the data; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, DCFS has publicly questioned whether they are | 12 | | capable of creating the data reports despite having the same | 13 | | computer systems in place as when monthly reporting was | 14 | | occurring; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, It is in the public interest to have updated | 16 | | monthly access to the data currently being withheld by DCFS; | 17 | | therefore, be it
| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 19 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the | 20 | | Illinois Department of Child and Family Services is urged to | 21 | | immediately return to its 35-year precedent by resuming monthly |
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| 1 | | child abuse reports and executive statistical summary reports; | 2 | | and be it further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | delivered to each member of the Illinois General Assembly, the | 5 | | Director of the Department of Child and Family Services, and | 6 | | the Office of the Governor as a testament to our unwavering | 7 | | commitment to improving the day-to-day lives of children and | 8 | | families across Illinois.
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