North Cook News

At a news conference on March 17, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) pointed out the persistent problems at the Department of Children and Family Services and demanded that Gov. J.B. Pritzker take immediate action.

Mazzochi stressed that DCFS director Marc Smith has been cited with contempt of court for six times amid allegations of keeping children in psychiatric facilities long after they'd been cleared to leave.

"If six contempt of court orders is not enough of a wake-up call for Gov. Pritzker that his approach isn’t working, what will be?" Mazzochi said.

Mazzochi puts blame for the department's failures on Pritzker.

"When it comes to this governor, personnel is policy. These court orders are directed specifically to his person and his policies. A judge has gone so far as to call what happened to one of these kids torture," Mazzochi said. "That happened on the governor's watch. What is going to actually be enough for Gov. Pritzker to decide it's time to change course and decided he's going to take some responsibility? Does he really need another consultant to tell him that kids should not be living like this?"

Failures at the department have brought demands that the governor take action.

After the beating death of 19-month-old Sophia Faye Davis, allegedly at the hands of her father's girlfriend, it was learned Sophia Faye's mother had made allegations of abuse, but the DCFS dismissed them as unfounded.

Also, two DCFS workers are being charged with endangerment of a child after the death of 5-year-old A.J. Freund, who was murdered by his parents.