Pritzker calls for more DCFS caseworkers

Posted: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 6:48 PM EDT Updated: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 11:16 PM EDT

MARION (WSIL) — After a state report blasted the state’s child welfare agency, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says changes are coming to DCFS.

The report from Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino showed investigations often weren’t completed in a timely fashion and dozens of children died between 2015 and 2017.

Pritzker said hiring more caseworkers is a good place to start.

“These caseworkers, a vast majority, I’m talking 99 percent of them, are doing everything that they possibly can to protect these children,” Pritzker said. “And yet, when you put too many cases on them or give them the wrong procedures to follow, there’s nothing more they can do.”

A group of lawmakers is working on a bill to reform DCFS, requiring more oversight on decisions made by the agency.