A 48-year-old Springfield man and former City Council candidate was charged July 24 with endangering the life or health of a child in connection with the March 16 swimming pool drowning of 7-year-old Barrett Koches. David Yankee, of the 2300 block of Winnebago Drive, was charged in a Sangamon County grand jury indictment with two […]
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Hope Institute rebounds with innovations for better care
KAREN PHOTO BY Terry Farmer, AMANDA PHOTO COURTESY The Hope Institute Karen G. Foley and Amanda Brott A Springfield school for children with developmental disabilities is making big changes following two incidents of abuse in November 2013. The Hope Institute for Children and Families was already planning changes before the isolated abuse came to light, […]
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Illinois may end ‘planned abandonment’
Toni Hoy speaks to lawmakers during a legislative hearing on a bill to end “planned abandonment” of adopted children who need intensive care for emotional disturbances. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE When Dan Hoy was just six months old, he was taken from his biological parents by the state. He was lethargic and starving to death, […]
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Fighting DCFS on how it takes children
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services still uses a rule that was struck down by the state’s highest court to take children, according to a lawsuit filed last week. Filed in Cook County Circuit Court, the class action lawsuit aims to stop DCFS from using the invalidated rule to “indicate” parents for neglect […]
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Lawsuit claims Illinois illegally withholds treatment for kids
A class action lawsuit against the state of Illinois alleges state welfare agencies illegally withhold treatment for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. The lawsuit could affect more than 18,000 youth with severe mental illnesses and emotional disturbances in Illinois. Filed against the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the lawsuit seeks to force […]
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Shakeup in juvenile justice
Three weeks after the director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice announced his resignation, two different studies are calling for major changes in the troubled agency’s operations. Kurt Friedenauer announced his resignation as IDJJ director on July 14, having served in that position since the department’s creation in 2006. Friedenauer oversaw IDJJ’s slow separation […]
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This is the village it takes
On a quiet street in Rantoul sits a small neighborhood of 15 nondescript duplex houses, part of a larger subdivision built decades ago to house the families of pilots and workers at the now-closed Chanute Air Force Base. Although it’s impossible to tell just by looking, something remarkable is happening here: adopted kids from troubled […]
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State shuffling agency offices
State offices in Springfield are about to do the do-si-do as Illinois shuffles office spaces in an attempt to eliminate costly expired leases. The leases are negotiated by the state’s Central Management Services agency, which spent almost $41.3 million for real property rental in Fiscal Year 2010. Many of the new leases replace expired “holdover” […]
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Caseworker who neglected her children investigates child neglect for state
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services continues to employ at least one caseworker found to have neglected her own foster children. Administrative rules calling for a review of the employee’s license to handle cases have apparently not been enforced. In September 2008, Linda C. Jones of Springfield, an 11-year DCFS child welfare specialist […]
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Helping parents get their kids back
Stephanie Spain, 26, a Petersburg native now residing in Pawnee, is no stranger to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Several years ago, her two daughters were taken from her due to neglect. Spain, like all parents whose children are removed from the home, was given a plan of action, detailing a list […]
