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The Latest Breaking News from DCFS

Taylor Frankie Paul Scandal: What Happened to 'Bachelorette' Star's Children After Dakota Mortensen Altercation

Taylor Frankie Paul's anticipated debut on 'The Bachelorette' is postponed following a controversial video showing an altercation with her ex-boyfriend.

International Business Times UK

How a Kids' Soccer Game Became a Child Welfare Case

A routine neighborhood soccer game was escalated into a state investigation, illustrating how ordinary parenting disputes are increasingly routed through government systems.

Reason

4yo LA child begged to not be returned to his parents – his family wins $20M after he is tortured to death

The child protective services failed repeatedly.

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Los Angeles County to pay $20 million to family of boy tortured to death by his parents

The child’s parents pleaded no contest to charges of murder and torture in 2024

The Independent UK

Los Angeles County will pay $20M to settle lawsuit over death of 4-year-old boy who was tortured

Los Angeles County will pay $20 million to the family of a 4-year-old boy who was tortured to death by his parents six years ago in a case that brought scrutiny of the region’s child welfare system

The Independent UK

Jaime King custody battle involves Department of Children and Family Services

Jaime King's custody case now involves the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) so Kyle Newman won't reach a verdict in his request for sole care of their sons until January.

BANG Premier

Illinois Falsely Accused These Parents of Abusing Their Baby—and Now Won't Tell Them Who Actually Did It

"I never thought that this was even humanly possible," says Sabra Brucker.

Reason

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Youth justice expert Heidi Mueller will head up embattled Illinois DCFS

Heidi Mueller, who has served as director of the Illinois Dept. of Juvenile Justice since 2016, was selected after a national search. She will take the reins of the scandal-plagued agency beginning February 1.

Chicago Sun-Times

DCFS needs grade-A leadership to overcome systemic failures

With the impending departure of Marc Smith, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is back to searching for a new director who is willing and capable of tackling the child welfare agency’s intractable problems.

Chicago Sun-Times

Embattled DCFS director Marc Smith announces resignation

The news comes a week after a blistering report from the Illinois auditor general highlighting delays in reporting child abuse to other authorities, protecting children allegedly abused and finding placements for kids.

Chicago Sun-Times

Former Johnny Depp lawyer weighs in on YouTuber Ruby Franke’s child abuse case

Attorney Ben Chew believes the claims Ruby Franke has made could be detrimental to her case

The Independent UK

Former DCFS manager accused of stealing at least $1.6 million in day care funds and spending it at a casino

Shauntelle Pridgeon was charged with fraud in a federal complaint handed down earlier this month but unsealed this week after Pridgeon was taken into custody.

Chicago Sun-Times

New records show how police found 8-year-old Sophia Mason — but it was already too late

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Newly obtained documents in the killing of Sophia Mason show that Hayward police — after getting a missing person’s report about the 8-year-old in March 2022 — swiftly determined what Alameda County social workers had failed to see for more than a year: The girl was…

Tribune News Service

Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme releases statement on child custody battle with ex-wife Brody Dalle

Josh Homme has released a lengthy statement concerning his legal battle with former partner and Distillers leader, Brody Dalle

Metal Hammer

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Los Angeles Times

10-year-old's mother and her boyfriend convicted of his murder in LA County abuse case

Anthony Avalos' mother and her boyfriend were convicted of murder in the death of the 10-year-old, whose short and tragic life exposed massive shortcomings in the county's child welfare system.

Chicago Sun-Times

DCFS blocking undocumented survivors of child abuse from applying for visas allowing them to stay in U.S.

The Illinois child-welfare agency for years has refused to issue “U visa” certifications to survivors of child abuse despite a law mandating that it must decide whether they qualify within 90 business days after they apply.

Reason

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Wrongfully Jailed Children for Months, New Lawsuit Alleges

"Sometimes I even feel like they wanted me in there, because I was in there so long," said one 18-year-old who was wrongfully incarcerated for 166 days.

Chicago Sun-Times

State Officials Sued for Allowing Foster Children to Languish in Juvenile Detention

The lawsuit against the Department of Children and Family Services officials comes after an investigation by the Illinois Answers Project found that the problem was only getting worse.

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The Independent UK

Lawsuit: Illinois agency wrongfully imprisoned children

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services wrongfully incarcerated hundreds of children in juvenile detention after a court ordered them to be released to a guardian

Chicago Sun-Times

Illinois Medicaid contractor Centene Corp. under federal scrutiny over foster kids’ medical care

An Illinois Answers Project investigation found that the insurance giant fell short in providing basic care. Now, federal officials want answers from state agencies overseeing the program.

Chicago Sun-Times

Illinois Policy Institute’s strategy with Workers’ Rights Amendment mirrors what House Dems have done in the past

I don’t blame the House Democrats for opening the historical door to this Illinois Policy Institute line of attack. But this sort of thing has to stop, although I doubt it will until voters start punishing those who use it.

Chicago Sun-Times

Extreme takeover? Pritzker and Bailey accuse one another of being an extremist who is dangerous for Illinois

It was the second and final debate between the two gubernatorial hopefuls Tuesday night, and both came prepared for combat, ready to dish it out — and not take any of the other’s jabs lying down.

Los Angeles Times

$32 million settlement approved in child abuse death of 10-year-old LA County boy

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $32 million settlement for the siblings and father of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos, who prosecutors say died of abuse and torture at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend despite repeated warnings to social workers.

Chicago Sun-Times

4-year-old girl died of child abuse just days after being returned to mother and the woman’s partner in Chatham

The girl, Cashawnna Love, had been taken from the home two weeks earlier after she was brought to a hospital with burns on her feet, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Chicago Sun-Times

DCFS must end practice of housing wards of the state in juvenile jail

A WBEZ report found that the practice, once on the decline, is now ticking up again.

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