Bill would take welfare cases away from DCFS

Freund death prompts lawmaker to propose new McHenry agency

A law that would create an agency in McHenry County to handle local child welfare cases instead of the existing state agency has been proposed by a northwest suburban state representative.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Steve Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, was prompted by the death in April of 5-year-old AJ Freund, of Crystal Lake, who authorities said was beaten to death by his parents. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services came under fire for its handling of calls to AJ’s home prior to his death.

The legislation, which would be called AJ’s Law, would create a five-year pilot program in McHenry County that could be a model for the rest of the state, according to a news release from Reick’s office. It would create an agency in the county that would be given all the powers and duties of the Children and Family Services Act and the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, according to the release.

Reick said that since AJ’s death, he has been part of a bipartisan legislative working group examining “the operation” of DCFS.

“During that time one thing has become abundantly clear: DCFS is an agency in need of systemic change,” Reick said. “The tragic death of AJ Freund has shined a bright light on the problems which exist in the agency as a whole and the McHenry County office in particular. The goal of this legislation is to create a framework to make this new county agency a model for the rest of the state. Under the jurisdiction of local government, the purpose of this new agency is to provide more responsive, effective and efficient child welfare services to the people of this community.”

The agency would employ an executive director appointed by the chairman of McHenry County Board and subject to approval by the full board. The office would also employ 15 caseworkers, said David Kubik a spokesman for Reick’s office. Hiring and control would all be handled at the county level, and the state would still provide funding for the employees, operations and the office, Kubik said.

The proposed law follows a letter written in October to DCFS by McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally.

“(T)he primary responsibility for protecting children in a community should belong to the community, not the State,” Kenneally wrote.

A spokesman for DCFS referred a request for comment to the governor’s office.

Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, said in a statement that while the governor will work with lawmakers to protect children, the administration is “skeptical” that Reick’s bill “would have the intended effect of improving services.”

The state in December said two DCFS workers who were recommended for dismissal for their handling of a hotline investigation into AJ four months before his death are no longer employed with the agency. A third worker who also was recommended for dismissal resigned.

DCFS administrators have acknowledged mistakes in some of the agency’s contacts with the family, and have since stepped up training and worked to reduce investigator caseloads. The agency hired more than 200 staff members last year after receiving a budget increase.

AJ’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, pleaded guilty in December to murdering her son. She is awaiting sentence.

AJ’s body was found about a week after his father, Andrew Freund, made a fake 911 call reporting him missing. The child’s body was found wrapped in plastic bags and buried in a shallow grave in Woodstock.

Andrew Freund remains charged with murder and other felonies in his son’s death. His next court date is Feb. 27.

Both parents remain in custody in the McHenry County jail.