Full Text of SR1229 103rd General Assembly
SR1229 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | SR1229 | | LRB103 42752 MST 75993 r |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its Department of | 3 | | Children and Family Services (DCFS) have an obligation to | 4 | | protect the State's children, our most vulnerable population, | 5 | | from abuse and mistreatment; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In June of 2024, Aunt Martha's Integrated Care | 7 | | Center, located on Chicago's South Side, was shut down by the | 8 | | Pritzker Administration; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Once elevated by Governor JB Pritzker as a model | 10 | | for how Illinois would serve abused foster children with | 11 | | mental health diagnoses, Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center | 12 | | now faces extreme scrutiny for several serious allegations of | 13 | | abuse; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Of the alleged youth abused at Aunt Martha's | 15 | | Integrated Care Center, many were court-ordered and supervised | 16 | | youth that were placed there in a vulnerable state seeking | 17 | | needed sanctuary; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, According to recent news outlets, the reasons for | 19 | | the sudden closure extend far beyond several allegations of | 20 | | heinous abuse, revealing oversight failures at the facility | 21 | | dating back to its launch; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Further allegations reveal years of cover-ups by | 2 | | Pritzker's top aides, persuasion by a 34-year DCFS veteran to | 3 | | backdate critical child protection plans amid an independent | 4 | | investigation by the agency's inspector general, and oversight | 5 | | inefficiencies regarding staff background checks and hiring; | 6 | | and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The long list of allegations that have been | 8 | | overlooked by State officials for years includes sex | 9 | | trafficking of minors, staffers who should never have been | 10 | | hired in the first place because of disqualifying prior | 11 | | arrests, overlooked claims of guards using sexual innuendos | 12 | | with children, staffers sleeping on the job, staffers sharing | 13 | | pornographic videos among themselves at work, and thousands of | 14 | | reported violent attacks among young residents; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Officials at the Illinois Department of Children | 16 | | and Family Services offered a delayed response to the | 17 | | situation at Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center and began to | 18 | | monitor the facility with 24-hour on-site supervision in May, | 19 | | nine months after the first report of sexual assault by a | 20 | | staffer; within weeks, the facility was shuttered; therefore, | 21 | | be it | 22 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL |
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| 1 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Auditor General is | 2 | | directed to conduct an audit of the Department of Children and | 3 | | Family Services (DCFS) handling of contracts and | 4 | | administration related to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security | 5 | | Services Inc.; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to, | 7 | | the following: | 8 | | (1) An examination of contracts specifically related | 9 | | to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services Inc. that | 10 | | includes, but is not limited to, abuse, background checks, | 11 | | staff hiring, the backdating of protective plans to | 12 | | determine the extent contracts were monitored, whether | 13 | | staff were properly screened and hired, and whether all | 14 | | allegations of abuse and mistreatment were properly | 15 | | investigated; | 16 | | (2) An examination of the spending of State funds at | 17 | | Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services Inc; and | 18 | | (3) Whether Illinois State officials acted outside of | 19 | | the law regarding the allegations of abuse and oversight | 20 | | at Aunt Martha's; and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That DCFS and any other State agency or entity | 22 | | having information relevant to this audit are urged to | 23 | | cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's Office | 24 | | in the conduct of this audit; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That we direct the Auditor General to commence | 2 | | this audit as soon as possible and report his findings and | 3 | | recommendations upon completion in accordance with the | 4 | | provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; | 5 | | and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 7 | | delivered to the Auditor General and the Director of the | 8 | | Department of Children and Family Services. |
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