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It is nightmare fuel for parents - your child coming home from school with mystery bruises and being unable to explain what happened. A Belmont Heights mom said she lived that nightmare, and the fight that followed to get her out of that school made things worse. So she called CBS 2's Marie Saavedra and got quick results.
The Better Government Association wanted to know if YouthCare - managed by for-profit Meridian Health - is working, but the state declined their request for information, so the BGA is going to court.
Police finally arrested the girl's abusers and finally Springfield took notice of how she was the one locked up long after she was cleared to leave
On orders from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, transportation vendors regularly shackled foster children -- hands, feet, and a body length chain connecting all four limbs.
Activists turned out Wednesday in front of the Grand Motel in the South Side's Washington Heights neighborhood, in support of a little girl who was sexually assaulted there last October.
Children trapped in psychiatric hospitals longer than they need to be and others simply falling through cracks are some of the critical problems the CBS 2 Investigators have been exposing for years at the Department of Children and Family Services.
Police and child protective services are scrambling to explain why multiple men who sexually abused a 10-year-old girl remain free, even though the suspects are known.
Hopeless, anxious, trapped – that is how a teenager described being locked in a psychiatric hospital for months longer than medically necessary.
A teenager spent months longer than necessary locked in a psychiatric hospital, and now out and in the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, he wanted to share his story.
Gov. JB Pritzker has promised to make changes at the DCFS to protect children like the girl who was killed this weekend, Serenity Arrington. Still, dozens of children whose families were investigated by the DCFS have been killed in just the last year.
Carlos Acosta pleaded not guilty to two counts of child endangerment and one count of reckless conduct.
A former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worker who is facing charges connected to the death of 5-year-old. A.J. Freund last year was a no-show at the McHenry County Board meeting Tuesday night.
As we practice social distancing to combat the coronavirus, there was some fear and worry Tuesday night that some children are being neglected – if not abused – during the stay-at-home mandate in the fight against coronavirus.
From small business to big government, organizations are reinventing themselves daily.
While the AJ Freund story made national headlines, some child advocates say another case – that of 4-year-old Tate Thurman – has eerie similarities as it unfolds in Central Illinois.
This week, the DCFS was called to task in front of state legislators for shackling foster kids.
A big infusion of cash appears headed to one of the biggest trouble spots in state government.
Of the 123 deaths in the fiscal year that ended last June, 24 were ruled homicides, 37 were accidental, 34 were natural, seven were suicide and 21 were undetermined.
Carlos Acosta and a supervisor were fired from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services after a lengthy disciplinary process.
The results of an audit of the Illinois child abuse hotline were released Thursday, and the reviews were not good. But even larger questions are emerging over whether the agency being audited was grading itself.
Illinois state legislators are looking at putting a new law on the books to prevent shackling of children from happening again.
Jawan Cross is not a prisoner – he's a teen in foster care – and yet, he was shackled by workers from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
A judge has ordered change within the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
The firings of DCFS investigators Carlos Acosta and Kathleen Gold, and their supervisor Andrew Polovin were recommended by the agency's inspector general in a confidential written report prepared for the head of DCFS.
Dozens of people in Crystal Lake came together Sunday to celebrate the life of AJ Freund.
A construction worker died on Thursday afternoon when he fell from the roof of a building under construction at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Funeral services for fallen Chicago police officer John Bartholomew, who was fatally shot at Swedish Hospital last weekend, have been set for next week at a church in the Edgewater neighborhood.
United Airlines will cut more than 100 daily departures out of O'Hare International Airport this summer to meet a federal mandate to avoid delays.
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.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with shooting and killing a man while the victim was driving last month in northwest suburban Palatine, causing him to crash into several parked cars and a dumpster.
The longest shutdown of a federal department in U.S. history came to an end on Thursday when President Trump signed a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security following a breakthrough on Capitol Hill.
The Coast Guard will run out of funding to pay personnel on May 1, with the first missed paychecks expected May 15.
Illinois lawmakers are not planning to pursue a constitutional amendment on redistricting after a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday.
Spirit Airlines only has enough available cash to continue operations for a matter of days, not weeks, and talks for a government-backed rescue of the no-frills carrier have stalled, sources say.
Illinois Democrats resoundingly decried the Supreme Court's decision Wednesday that significantly weakens the Voting Rights Act.
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.
A passenger on an American Airlines flight from New York to Chicago has been charged with making a false bomb threat that forced an emergency landing at Detroit Metro Airport last month, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Skyrocketing property taxes continue to be a hot-button issue in Cook County — particularly since last fall, when many residents saw their tax bills increase by 100% or more.
The second-largest physicians' group in the U.S. has issued a surprising switch in breast cancer screening recommendations.
A new $48 million wellness center opened Thursday in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. The goal is to improve the health and quality of life for people on the West Side of Chicago.
La Rabida Children's Hospital went all out for Earth Day on Wednesday, with volunteer cleanup efforts by staffers and activities for patients and families.
It has been several weeks since West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois, abruptly shut down — and then on Wednesday, it just as swiftly partially reopened, with some services available.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 80% of deaths related to pregnancy are preventable, and Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
A $170 million-plus plan announced this week will redevelop the Water Tower Place mall on the Magnificent Mile.
The Holiday Club in Chicago's Buena Park neighborhood will soon be going out of business, as the building that houses the popular bar is set to be torn down.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Lincolnwood Village Board approved a pre-development agreement with the mall, providing a roadmap with the property owner for further preparations and government approvals for redevelopment.
The only remaining location of Pal Joey's pizzeria in Batavia, Illinois, will soon be going out of business, its owner announced this week.
Investment research firm Morningstar could move into the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago once Google is done renovating the former Illinois state government building.
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.
Jake was at the funeral for one of his closest friends when he learned of his parents' deaths, he said.
Tickets for the 2026 Ravinia Festival season went on sale Thursday morning.
After wrapping up the short two-game pre-season on Wednesday night, it was time to pose for the camera for the Chicago Sky on media day on Thursday. One of the team's newest additions is bringing some extra focus to Photoshop last year's less-than-picture-perfect 10-win finish.
United Airlines will cut more than 100 daily departures out of O'Hare International Airport this summer to meet a federal mandate to avoid delays.
The Illinois House heard arguments on Thursday to repeal the state's anti-BDS law, which says the state's pension funds can not be invested in companies that boycott Israel. The law itself has been used as a model across the country. Illinois state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Chicago) is sponsoring the bill to repeal it.
President Donald Trump says he's removing certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after this week's White House visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.
Chief meteorologist Albert Ramon has the latest First Alert Weather forecast.
Funeral services for fallen Chicago police officer John Bartholomew, who was fatally shot at Swedish Hospital last weekend, have been set for next week at a church in the Edgewater neighborhood.
Prosecutors said 22 people were arrested in Northwest Indiana FBI raids for "Operation Porterhouse Parlay" targeting an illegal gambling ring.
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.
An Illinois commission investigating Chicago immigration crackdown Operation Midway Blitz recommended prosecuting some federal agents for alleged misconduct.
A construction worker died on Thursday afternoon when he fell from the roof of a building under construction at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Violent retail crime is on the rise in Illinois, according to a new report from the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association.
A top administrator in the Libertyville school district has been placed on leave after a fiery school board meeting focused on how the district handled allegations of grooming leveled against a former teacher.
Potholes along one stretch of road in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood are so bad, people say they damage their cars just getting to work.
There are so many issues with the DNA evidence in the case that Payne's conviction has been overturned, and a retrial has been ordered.
A mother in southwest suburban Morris, Illinois, is fighting for stiffer penalties for adults charged with grooming children. Some local lawmakers agree, saying Illinois' current law is too weak and puts kids in danger.
Seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins has only been with the Sky for about three weeks, but it's clear she's already one of the leaders of the team.
The Cubs have won 12 of their last 15 games.
Reese is all smiles as she returns to Chicago to face her former team, the Sky, in preseason action on Wednesday night.
Rookie Sam Antonnaci hit a tying triple with two outs in the ninth inning and Colson Montgomery had a winning single in the 10th, lifting the Chicago White Sox over Los Angeles 3-2 for a three-game sweep that extended the Angels' losing streak to six.
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a three-run homer and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night to stop their three-game slide.
A woman has been charged with shooting a 15-year-old boy outside an indoor track facility near Gately Park in Chicago in 2024, after getting into a fight with another woman during a back-to-school event in the Pullman neighborhood.
Sexual abuse charges were filed this week against a Park City, Illinois, police officer.
Attorneys for the man convicted of the murders of two girls in Delphi, Indiana, have filed a new brief with the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn his case.
Attorneys for a woman convicted of killing her 69-year-old landlord in Chicago's Arcadia Terrace community have filed an appeal.
Police in Cicero, Illinois, were investigating after burglars targeted gaming machines at a slots and video poker business early Wednesday.
