Charges against DCFS caseworkers in A.J. Freund case are deterring people from going into profession, expert says
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three years ago, many of us first learned the name A.J. Freund - the 5-year-old whose death at the hands of his parents put new focus on the state's child welfare agency.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had already had A.J. on their radar. In a rare move afterward, A.J.'s caseworker, Carlos Acosta, and supervisor Andrew Polovin were charged criminally with endangering the life of a child and one felony count of reckless conduct.
Now, as CBS 2's Chris Tye reported Thursday, the rare move of criminally charging those two men has had a chilling effect on enticing social workers from choosing that career path.
It was three years ago this week the AJ's body was found in a shallow grave in Woodstock, Illinois.
A.J.'s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in 2019. A.J.'s father, Andrew Freund Sr., pleaded guilty in 2020 charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated battery to a child, and concealment of a homicide; and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
CBS News Chicago Special: 'The Murder of A.J. Freund
Acosta and Polovin are still awaiting trial for the charges issued against them. They were in front of a judge in McHenry County Court on Thursday.
Meanwhile, still today, their case casts a long shadow over DCFS and would-be employees.
Tye asked Kathy Lane, who used to head the union representing DCFS workers, whether the case against Acosta and Polovin is dissuading others from getting into their line of work.
"I believe so, and we've heard that from people I've talked to personally about coming to work for the department," Lane said. "I've heard a lot of people actually say they don't want to come work for the department, because they don't want to have a child die on their caseload."
And caseloads are getting heavier.
A report from DCFS shows despite adding 12 caseworkers over the last year, the number of vacant positions jumped from 8.8 percent last March to 2 -percent this March.
Just since December, at least five Illinois children have died while in the care of DCFS.
One of them was Sophia Faye Davis of Lincoln, Illinois, who was injured Feb. 6 and died. Her mother, Cierra Coker, is now behind bars.
Investigators say her daughter suffered "life threatening injuries" early last month and "ultimately succumbed to those injuries." Her mother is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child.
DCFS had an investigation into the household under way when Sophia died.
Meanwhile in the last year, DCFS had had multiple visits with the Bloomington family of 7-month-old Zaraz Walker - including when nurses notified DCFS over odd behavior from her mother, Kimberlee Burton.
DCFS deemed that allegation "unfounded."
Then last month, the mother allegedly told investigators Zaraz died falling asleep between her legs - and said she buried Zaraz in a cemetery near the house.
Burton is charged with concealing a death. Her baby has never been found.
In a third case in January, Damari Perry of North Chicago was initially reported missing by his family and was believed to be in extreme danger. But authorities said the family's story about how he disappeared after going to a party with his sister in Skokie was not true. Damari was dead, and an investigation ultimately uncovered the boy's partially-charred body had already been discarded like trash in a snow-covered field in Gary.
Damari's mother, Jannie Perry 38; his brother, Jeremiah Perry, 20; and a juvenile sibling are all facing charges in his death.
Lane says the system with insufficient resources and staff — not the staffers themselves — are to blame.
"The department is failing these children, not the workers. The workers are trying to do everything they can to ensure the safety of children," Lane said. "But you need to have the services and workers to do so."