DCFS worker charged with stealing more than $1M and spending it at a casino
Shauntelle Pridgeon was responsible for reviewing and approving daycare providers for children under DCFS' supervision.
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Shauntelle Pridgeon was responsible for reviewing and approving daycare providers for children under DCFS' supervision.
A member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking is speaking out about the treatment of foster children.
The teenage girl already had a history of being trafficked for sex – and DCFS placed her in a home with someone now accused of forcing her into prostitution.
Why were they there? The reason, the suit said, was that the state was out of placement beds.
Of the kids dying from abuse and neglect between July 2021 and June 2022, many died from natural causes. But 18 were homicides and 30 were accidents.
We have now uncovered new documents that may reveal there may have been more to the motive behind Amaria's murder.
State Rep. Lakesia Collins grew up in the DCFS system, but she was not aware how overwhelmingly often Illinois foster parents are cleared of abuse and neglect allegations.
This news is not sitting well with the family of the 8-year-old girl, whose mother is charged with her murder.
Surveillance video captured footage of what happened – but the 8-year-old's mom is not allowed to see it.
The higher court did say however, that the lower court judge – former Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy - was trying to address a widespread problem and that Smith has fallen "woefully short."
Foster parents accused of abuse and neglect have the vast majority of their allegations closed without findings against them.
"Hunter was the life of the party," said Hunter's uncle and former foster father, Keil Quigley. "He always had a smile. He had beautiful blue eyes."
The agency investigated allegations of violence, sexual abuse – and finally, the death of a child this past August.
We have been asking every day for five weeks to find out how he died and who dropped the ball.
"At what point is enough is enough? Obviously, whatever they are doing isn't working."
Three different downstate counties investigated this family over the years, but now there are questions over whether they all knew what was going on by neighboring agencies.
"I just want to know what happened to him. I just want to know what happened to my child."
DCFS cares for over 20,000 children with an annual budget of $1.5 billion.
9 children have since died in the care of DCFS since December.
Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert submitted 12 pages Monday of what he calls systemic failures by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
This latest case involves a 15-year-old girl who has been stuck in a psychiatric hospital even though she was cleared to be released on Jan. 14.
DeMarcus Osby spoke out only to CBS 2's Chris Tye about the child welfare system that he says failed his daughter.
Two months – that is how long it took for the state's child welfare agency to make contact with a child who was flagged at risk for neglect.
The eight-year-old's final words: "momma stop."
An 11-year-old abused girl, considered a risk to herself and others, has spent two months in what's considered a shelter and has been waiting months longer for a secure residential treatment center placement.
The friends ran track at DeKalb High School, with one of them going on to do the same at UIC.
Murakami added his 17th homer in the fifth, a two-run shot to center off Jameson Taillon that traveled an estimated 428 feet.
City officials say a vehicle heading northbound on Route 41 collided in the intersection with another vehicle traveling westbound on Park Avenue to southbound Route 41.
Chris Brady had six saves for Chicago and has six shutouts this season.
An 18-year-old man was found dead in the alley from gunshot wounds following a large fight on Friday night, police said.
In a move aimed at curbing the growing problem of "teen takeovers," D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is threatening to bring charges against parents if their teens violate the local curfew.
State Rep. Josh Turek and State Sen. Zach Wahls squared off Thursday over which candidate can flip Iowa's open Republican-held Senate seat, as millions in outside spending reshapes the primary's final stretch.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin say their concern is there may be more emergency exit doors than flight attendants in the event of an evacuation.
Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th) is suing the city of Chicago, its inspector general's office, and the Board of Ethics, accusing them of defamation.
The Supreme Court has maintained mail access to the abortion pill mifepristone, setting aside for now a lower court order that blocked abortion providers from prescribing the widely used drug through telehealth and shipping it to patients.
Chatham residents say they're losing a vital resource as Walgreen's prepares to close its store near 86th and Cottage Grove.
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Chicago was $5.17 on Friday, up from $3.75 a year ago.
Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas Company customers are likely to see minor credits on their bills for the next three years, thanks to a $125 million settlement agreement announced Thursday by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Chicago gas prices are spiking as the war with Iran drags on, with regular gas nearing $6 in some spots and premium already selling for more than $7 in some places.
In the legal venue of anti-trust enforcement, the state is not taking on the Trump administration, but rather filling a void that state officials say the Trump administration has vacated.
Engineers at Northwestern University have created a wireless polygraph to detect stress.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday announced an expansion to the city's CARE Program, a specialized team that responds to mental health crises without police.
A Texas couple is filing a lawsuit accusing the AI company of guiding their teenage son in using drugs, resulting in a fatal overdose.
An American on the repatriation flight began showing symptoms of hantavirus and another "tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus," the Department of Health and Human Services says.
More than 100 people from a cruise ship dealing with an outbreak of the rare and deadly hantavirus are set to be disembarked.
Flight attendants at Chicago-based United Airlines have approved a new labor contract, marking their first pay increases in six years.
The Chicago Fire FC announced Wednesday morning that its new stadium in the South Loop will be named McDonald's Park.
U.S. prosecutors allege a man with multiple aliases used the name of the famed Astor family to scam a Mexican billionaire out of $450 million.
Thousands of people marched from the West Loop to Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago on Friday for May Day, with activists calling for workers' rights, stronger labor protections, and increased school funding.
A $170 million-plus plan announced this week will redevelop the Water Tower Place mall on the Magnificent Mile.
The Chicago-born house music track, which began as a personal poem in 1982 and became a defining anthem of the city's house music scene, has been selected for permanent preservation by the Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress revealed this year's list of 25 recordings to be preserved for future generations on the National Recording Registry.
David Allan Coe also had hits with "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" and "The Ride" among others.
Some youngsters got a behind-the-scenes look at the magic of making opera Sunday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Matt DeCaro, an actor who was a familiar face on the Chicago stage for many years, died this weekend.
The Pope was talking with some children at the Vatican on Sunday, when the kids did the viral gesture.
Therapists and volunteers from Northwestern Medicine teamed up with the Go Baby Go program to create the special ride-on cars.
Thousands of sailors on the USS Gerald R. Ford returned home on Saturday to reunite with their loved ones. It's a special moment for many, including a sailor who finally got to meet his newborn son for the first time.
The recall includes three lots of the seasoning products sold nationwide at Walmart and on the Blackstone website.
Cicero police said just before midnight, officers responded to a large group of people fighting in an alley in the 2500 block of South 58th Avenue. An 18-year-old man was found dead in the alley from gunshot wounds, police said.
City officials say a vehicle heading northbound on Route 41 collided in the intersection with another vehicle traveling westbound on Park Avenue to southbound Route 41.
A burglary suspect was taken into custody after allegedly stealing a Cook County Sheriff's car on Saturday morning.
The friends ran track at DeKalb High School, with one of them going on to do the same at UIC.
Two women were shot during robbery in Chicago's West Loop early Saturday morning.
An 18-year-old man was found dead in the alley from gunshot wounds following a large fight on Friday night, police said.
Pothole complaints continue everywhere, but especially on one street in the Pullman neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.
People in Lincoln Park and Lakeview have rallied against a plan to build a new industrial ComEd electrical substation in their neighborhoods, pushing local and state leaders to get involved.
Monday marks one year since Illinois enacted Karina's Law — legislation aimed at taking firearms out of the hands of people accused of domestic abuse.
Tenants at a South Shore apartment building said they've noticed their rent fluctuating by hundreds of dollars a month due to a change in how their utility billing system is set up.
A man from the Chicago suburbs lost $69,000 of his savings to a scam by a thief using an AI-generated U.S. Marshals badge to intimidate him.
Murakami added his 17th homer in the fifth, a two-run shot to center off Jameson Taillon that traveled an estimated 428 feet.
Chris Brady had six saves for Chicago and has six shutouts this season.
Carson Kelly hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and drove in four runs as the Chicago Cubs stopped a five-game White Sox winning streak with a 10-5 victory over their crosstown rival.
Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Ian Happ hit a long home run and five Chicago Cubs pitchers combined for a 2-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves that snapped a four-game losing streak.
A Davison Township police chief released body camera video showing how a senior "water wars" prank brought an officer within milliseconds of opening fire on a student.
A man was found shot to death Thursday morning in Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood.
One man was killed and another was critically injured Thursday morning in a shooting in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood.
A young man was shot and killed while getting into his car in the Ashburn neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side Thursday morning.
A Chicago-area man who ran a business helping people apply for asylum and immigrant visas was recently sentenced to nine years in prison for fraud and child pornography.
