DCFS says it shouldn't be held responsible for children who die under its watch, but its own inspector general wonders if these lives had to be … cut short

Chicago Reporter, The, June, 2004 by Sarah Karp

Still, the child protection worker allowed Chloe's mother to leave the hospital with the baby. This began a year-long dance between an emotionally involved caseworker and a mother who seemed to love her children but was overwhelmed by the strength of her addiction.

What happened when Chloe's mother frost left the hospital with her baby boy is not clear. When a case is referred for services, as Chloe's mother's was at that point, there is no court record of what happened. In August, five months later, the case was closed because the family was "inactive."

How the department should handle families that don't want to participate in services is a theme in Kane's reports. Maganzini said DCFS workers could seek a protective order--which mandates the parent participate in services-but that they very seldom do. Thomas, the DCFS deputy director, said her workers only go to the state's attorney's office when they want to take custody.

Cook County Public Guardian Patrick T. Murphy, whose office represents foster children in court, said protective orders fell out of favor because they clogged up the courts.

But, in Chloe's mother's case, DCFS was soon made aware that the family was still struggling. In October, another family member called the hotline to report that Chloe's mother was leaving her 5-monthold baby and DeMario with her 93-year-old grandmother. Once again, DCFS child protection workers substantiated a case against Chloe's mother, this time for inadequate supervision. And once again, they referred her for services.

This time Chloe's mother's case landed on Lay's desk. Sitting in her office, crowded with boxes of case files, Lay said she often gets families that need more than she can offer. But DCFS has a no-reject policy, meaning the agencies it contracts with can't pick and chose which cases it takes.

Lay said it's common for her to get mothers, like Chloe's mother, who have long-time drug problems, no jobs and no homes. Finding these women all the services they need to become functioning parents is difficult, especially in resource-starved neighborhoods in Chicago.

Most of the services to which Lay refers parents are community-based programs, and being involved with DCFS does not mean they get priority. "You can't very well tell someone who needs counseling that in order to get it they need to take two trains to Rogers Park," she said.

On top of that, many of the parents Lay works with do not want help. But she said she gets a lot of heat from DCFS workers if another hotline call about the family is placed or if Lay herself feels it is necessary to bring the children into custody. "The child protection workers are mad as hell at us," Lay said. "They look at us like we aren't doing our job."

Lay handed Chloe's mother's case to one of her workers, and that worker became entangled in the case, confidential case files obtained by the Reporter show. In October 2002, during their first phone conversation, Chloe's mother was reportedly surly and told the caseworker that she was about to be thrown out of her sister's South Holland house. In short order, she needed a place to stay and some income, she said.