DCFS director held in contempt of court for 9th time

COOK COUNTY, Ill. (WAND)- DCFS Director Marc Smith was held in contempt of court on Thursday, making it his ninth time since January 6, 2022.

A motion was filed and litigated by Judge Patrick T. Murphy of the Cook County Juvenile Court held Smith in contempt of court and ordered fines of $1,000 per day.

Along with the prior eight contempt orders, this latest order is for failing to appropriately place a child in violation of court orders, and at DCFS’s request the fines will begin on May 5, 2022.

According to Office of the Cook County Public Guardian the nine contempt orders are as follows:

The ninth contempt order involves a 15-year-old boy whom DCFS is holding in a locked psychiatric hospital, where he has reportedly been ready for discharge since January 31, 2022. On March 14, the court ordered that DCFS ensure that he is discharged to an appropriate placement by March 25, 2022. DCFS has disregarded that order. Cook County officials claim DCFS has also failed for months to obtain a neuropsychological exam to assess the boy’s special needs.

The first two contempt orders were on January 6, 2022, in unrelated cases.

The first contempt involved a girl locked up in a psychiatric hospital for more than seven months, starting when she was eight years old.

The second contempt involved a 13-year-old boy whom DCFS kept in a “temporary” shelter in Mt. Vernon – nearly five hours away – for nearly five months. Before the shelter, DCFS placed him in a utility room in an office.

The third contempt order, entered on January 13, 2022, involved a 17-year-old boy whom officials said DCFS warehoused unnecessarily in a locked psychiatric hospital for more than four months.

The fourth contempt, entered on February 17, 2022, involved a 16-year-old girl whom they said DCFS shuffled back and forth 25 times in two months among various placements including hospitals, emergency shelters, a shelter in Indiana, and temporary foster homes. Before that, she was in a locked psychiatric hospital unnecessarily for nearly two months.

The fifth contempt order, entered on March 4, 2022, involved an 11-year-old girl. Cook County Public Guardian officials said she had been ready to be discharged from a locked psychiatric hospital since April 30, 2021. The girl, now 11, was ten years old when she was ready to be discharged. DCFS determined that she needs a residential placement.

The sixth contempt order, also entered on March 4, 2022, involved a 15-year-old girl who had been held in a locked psychiatric hospital since December 6, 2021 – approximately three months. DCFS determined that she needs a specialized foster home but failed to place her appropriately.

The seventh contempt order involved a 16-year-old boy who spent more than 375 days, almost the entire time he had been in DCFS custody, in a “temporary” shelter unable to meet his highly specialized needs given his low intellectual functioning and cognitive delays.

The eighth contempt order involved a 14-year-old girl whom DCFS is accused of bouncing around among 21 different placements including DCFS offices, hospital emergency rooms, and emergency foster homes. The placements also include being in a locked psychiatric hospital after she was ready for discharge for more than two months after entering DCFS’s care.

The Office of the Cook County Public Guardian reports in all of these contempt cases, the court had entered orders for the child to be placed appropriately.