Embattled Illinois DCFS Director Marc Smith to step down at end of the year

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith announced Wednesday that he is resigning as leader of the state's child welfare agency, one week after a report by the Illinois Auditor General revealed 33 major failures over the past two years.

Smith, who was first appointed to the post in 2019, announced his resignation during a virtual town hall meeting for DCFS staff.

"After having some discussion with my family, and people who are part of our system who are important to me, and the way we think about the work, I wanted to announce today that I will be stepping down as director of DCFS," Smith said.

Smith said his last day as DCFS director will be Dec. 31.

"Though this is a sad day for me, I wanted to do as much as I could to support the transition of the child welfare system," Smith said.

At the virtual town hall, Smith added, "Illinois DCFS is the premier child welfare agency in this country, no doubt."

But as CBS 2 Political Reporter Chris Tye reported Wednesday, outsiders have a different report card for Smith and DCFS.

Smith has been the center of controversy at DCFS for years, having been held in contempt of court at least a dozen times for the improper placement of a child in the agency's care.

"I think director Smith leaves a mixed legacy," said Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert. 

Golbert said that mixed legacy includes massive failures, such as kids in state care sleeping on office floors, a spike in kids in locked psychiatric hospitals, kids languishing in juvenile jails because there were no better placement options, and a spike in child deaths for kids on DCFS radar.

The number of kids who have died on DCFS radar is at a two-decade high.

"There continue to be lots of children's deaths," Golbert said, "and that's largely due to the fact that DCFS' vacancy rate for investigators is still 20 percent - which is in violation of a federal court order."

On the positive side of things, the continuity in leadership helped, with Smith lasting over four years – four times longer than most in the job.

He is credited with a strong handling of DCFS kids during the pandemic, and he was able to nearly double the DCFS budget over his tenure.

"He definitely got a lot more resources to DCFS, but it's not translating to improved outcomes," Golbert said. "That's what has to happen now."

Just last week, DCFS got a scathing report card on how it has been doing the last two years. There were more failures than in the last review, but similar promises to improve.

Last time the state Auditor General updated us, there were 30 major failures by DCFS. This time, it's 33.

When Illinois' most vulnerable kids are in their darkest moments, it is the job of the Department of Children and Family Services to shine a light on what has gone wrong. But a just-released Illinois Auditor General's report, examining the last two years of DCFS performance, finds the list of missteps by the department is growing, not shrinking.

Numerous children died while on the DCFS radar over those two years, Meanwhile, many issues at DCFS have gone uncorrected for much longer.

"You can see some of these findings are on repeat dating back more than 25 years," Cook County Chief Deputy Public Guardian Alpa Patel said last week.

The department's misfires include waiting days and weeks and months to notify authorities - from prosecutors to school districts - when calamity strikes.

In the most serious cases involving child death, injury, torture, malnutrition, and sex abuse, it is DCFS' job to notify - within 24 hours - local authorities like the state's attorneys of credible cases.

DCFS failed to do so 20 percent of the time - in some cases waiting five to 43 days. The report says this has been happening since 2012.

"A huge sense of in terms of lack of urgency in terms of what the department needs to be doing," Patel said.

Patel said that lack of urgency - for an agency that costs $1.8 billion a year to operate - costs the lives of some of the state's most vulnerable. 

When there are cases of sex abuse at school, state law calls for DCFS to notify the school when the investigation is complete.

The report shows when credible evidence of abuse is found, in 96 percent of cases, DCFS failed to quickly notify the school - in some cases leaving school districts in the dark for between 431 and 908 days.

DCFS accepted the recommendations in the report for improving the behavior outlined by the auditor general.

With Smith stepping down, some state lawmakers are calling for sweeping change at DCFS.

"I don't think anybody could have done this job, and I'm not going to pile on the man," said Illinois state Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock).

Reick said the problems with DCFS go all the way to the top of state government.

"This is a problem with the governor," Reick said. "This isn't a problem with Marc Smith."

Reick also said the state audit of DCFS speaks for itself.

"We are long past the point of taking this agency's word for the fact that it's going to do something about what it needs to do."

Reick, a member of the state House Adoption and Child Welfare Committee, plans to present legislation to restructure DCFS - so it is not one big state agency, but instead several smaller, regional agencies.

In his announcement to colleagues, Smith called DCFS is the country's premier child welfare agency.

"We are running and working at the highest level, I believe, that this agency has ever worked at," Smith said. "Don't let anyone take that away from you, because I'm sure as hell not letting them take it away from me."

Tye asked Reick how history will remember the Marc Smith legacy at DCFS.

"I think it won't remember it too much for anything, because nothing was really done in the time he was there," Reick said.

We asked the office of Gov. JB Pritzker whether it was Smith's decision to step down, or if he was asked to do so .  We did not get an answer to that question. 

DCFS is getting an 11 percent budget boost next year, exceeding $2 billion in Illinois taxpayer money for the first time ever.

Gov. Pritzker did say Smith represents the best of state government.