The inspector general of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Tuesday called for the establishment of a code of conduct for DCFS workers and employees of private agencies that care for children.
In addition, Denise Kane called for improved background checks of the child-care workers, saying she had found two instances where DCFS workers had engaged in sexual relations with parents or guardians of state wards, and that children hospitalized in private psychiatric facilities had complained of being abused.
However, a spokesman for the state employees union characterized the “code of conduct” as being somewhat superfluous.
“There’s really little in this policy that would change the expected conduct of employees in the department,” said Steve Trossman of Local 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
“It just seems kind of silly,” added Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, whose office represents abused and neglected children in Juvenile Court.
But Kane said that after studying files of 140 different cases handled by the DCFS, she believed codifying the rules on employee behavior was an important first step at helping the agency get back on firm footing.
“You have to understand,” Kane said at a news conference at the James R. Thompson Center. “We’re getting calls from fellow workers who do not like the behavior of some of their fellow colleagues who they think are unprofessional . . . Changing behavior is what we have to do right now in the department.”
The final entry on the proposed 16-item “code of conduct” is a ban on becoming “romantic or intimate” with any individual responsible, either as guardian, foster parent or natural parent, of a child under DCFS care or a relative of those individuals. If enacted, the code would affect 3,576 workers employed by DCFS and thousands of other workers employed by private agencies.
“It’s a position of power,” Kane said in reference to the role a DCFS caseworker can play in a disrupted family’s life. “No one should be using their power to exploit somebody.”
At the top of the code is a ban on discrimination based on sex, age, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, marital status, political belief, or mental or physical disability.
The code includes language against denying someone his or her civil rights; breaking federal, state or local laws; defrauding clients; using illegal drugs or alcohol on the job; carrying weapons; sexual harassment; and stealing or destroying state property.
Kane also conducted a computer review of records beginning in January 1990 and up to last October that identified 84 DCFS employees who had been suspended for a variety of reasons including “danger to children, including sex abuse.”
Missing from many of the personnel files, however, was background information ranging from previous employer information to college transcripts, prompting Kane to recommend that background checks of DCFS employees and DCFS contractors be improved.
Due to sex-abuse complaints also received from some mentally disturbed children, Kane recommended that background checks also be required of staff members of private psychiatric facilities that handle DCFS wards.
Kane, who was appointed inspector general of the DCFS by Gov. Jim Edgar last July following the death of Joseph Wallace, a 3-year-old hanged after he was returned to his mentally ill mother, also proposed that the code be developed by professionals who deal with children.
Kane also proposed:
– Easing of currently restrictive laws governing the news media reporting of such cases as that of Joseph Wallace.
– That Family Risk Assessments be completed whether cases are founded or unfounded. Currently, completion of the form on unfounded cases is optional.
– That child-welfare experts review cases that are determined to be unfounded.
– Use of more sophisticated testing in sexual abuse cases to eliminate “false positive” readings.
– Purchase of beepers for all investigators.
– Purchase of facsimile machines for investigative offices.
– Allowing access to the state’s Law Enforcement Agency Data System for criminal background checks.
