State Representatives Call For Action To Fix Issues Within DCFS

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois Republicans want quick action to fix issues at the Department of Children and Family Services.

Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Westchester) called for emergency legislative hearings into DCFS.

State representatives cite years of failures -- some of them ending in children's deaths.

"DCFS is failing our state's most vulnerable children and we need transparency and public hearings about why," said Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna).

"I have been working to try and rectify the problems with DCFS ever since AJ Freund was murdered by his parents after DCFS failed them," said Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa).

State Rep. Weber also noted the recent death of 6-year-old Damari Perry after several investigations into his family.

On Friday, the CBS 2 Investigators were the first to report that a judge held director Marc Smith in contempt for wrongfully locking up kids in a psychiatric hospital and a shelter for months.

On Thursday, just days after the contempt order, DCFS says those two youth have been removed from the hospital and shelter and placed in proper care.

It's just one of the agency's failures that the CBS 2 Investigators have been reporting on for years.