SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State auditors say the Illinois agency responsible for protecting children often fails to meet the deadline for a follow-up review of a child’s death.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State auditors say the Illinois agency responsible for protecting children often fails to meet the deadline for a follow-up review of a child’s death. The review comes after the Department of Children and Family Services’ formal investigation of possible child-abuse deaths. The goal is to see if there was any way to prevent the death and to improve handling of abuse cases. DCFS is supposed to conduct a review within 90 days of the formal investigation being completed. But the auditor general’s office reported Thursday that the average wait was 200 days after the child died. In one case, the follow-up review took well over a year — 496 days. DCFS says a lack of staff contributed to the problem, but the agency has adopted new procedures to reduce delays. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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