DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) will be part of a bipartisan group looking to improve Illinois' child welfare agency.Â
Caulkins will join other lawmakers in the Illinois House and Senate in the group. Its members will seek to come up with policy and solutions for making the Department of Children and Family Services better.Â
DCFS was established on Jan. 1, 1964 as the first cabinet-level state child welfare agency in the United States. Before then, child welfare responsibilities in Illinois were part of the Department of Mental Health. There were limited services and placement programs provided by several state agencies, private agencies and county courts.Â
DCFS served about 4,000 children in the first year of operation. It helped a peak of 51,000 children in foster care in 1997. Today, it helps about 15,000 kids.Â
The department also licenses all Illinois daycares.Â
For more information on Caulkins' appointment to the working group or to share thoughts or ideas with him, call his district office at (217)876-1968.
