Senate Republican lawmakers seek independent audit of DCFS abuse handling

SPRINGFIELD – Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Senate Republican Caucus Whip Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) filed an official resolution calling for an independent audit by the Illinois Auditor General into serious accusations of violence against children under the state’s care at Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center in Chicago, as well as what appears to be an attempt by the Pritzker Administration to falsify documents related to investigations.

“Gov. Pritzker’s administration’s failure to protect abused youth in the state’s care from physical and sexual abuse and their attempts to thwart inquiries into the abuse is extremely alarming,” said Curran. “Since the Pritzker Administration refuses to come forward in an accountable and transparent manner, we are moving forward in calling for this audit to provide answers for the child victims, their families, and the people of Illinois.”

A recent Injustice Watch investigative report outlined thousands of accusations of violence, including serious allegations of sexual and physical abuse of children under the care of the state-funded center.

In 2019, Pritzker hired a top executive of Aunt Martha’s, Marc Smith, to serve as the Director of DCFS, despite public questions about conflicts of interest. Smith went on to sign a no-bid contract to A-Alert, a security company that Aunt Martha’s chief operating officer had raised concerns about in August 2023 due to allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Despite these significant concerns and allegations of abuse at the facility, the Pritzker Administration continued to employ the security company that, according to the Comptroller’s Website, has received more than $7.3 million in taxpayer funds since 2022 – at least $6.5 million of which have been paid out after the first complaint was lodged a little over a year ago. The most recent payment was in August of this year.

This spring, WGN reported that Antonio Hopkins, an employee of A-Alert Security was arrested on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and is now a fugitive after failing to appear at an August court hearing.

CBS reported that another staffer, Trulon Henry, was charged with three counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and predatory criminal sexual assault stemming from crimes he allegedly committed while employed at Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center this summer. He fled and was apprehended on the east coast in July and sent back to Chicago.

“These are just two examples of the horrific crimes that have been reported at this state-funded center that was supposed to be protecting child victims of abuse,” Tracy said. “These children were already victims of horrific crimes, and instead of providing them with the help they need, the state made them victims all over again.”

When the center was finally shut down by DCFS this June, a long-time DCFS staffer was accused of trying to persuade center officials to backdate critical child protection plans amid an independent investigation by the Office of the Executive Inspector General. When asked about the attempted cover-up, a DCFS spokesperson acknowledged the attempt, saying that the employee “panicked.”

“The Governor’s Office has refused to even comment on the horrific findings of this investigation and as a result, we are stepping up and calling for the Auditor General to conduct an audit of DCFS’ handling of contracts and administration related to Aunt Martha’s and A-Alert Security services,” Curran said.  

Pritzker Press Secretary Alex Gough disputed Curran’s assessment.

“The protection of our most vulnerable children is a responsibility that must be taken seriously,” Gough said. “So, it’s disappointing that Leader Curran would rather play political games by spreading falsehoods in public than have meaningful conversations with the Director he and his caucus voted to appoint. 

“The administration has made investments in the agency not seen in a generation. After supporting Bruce Rauner’s disastrous cuts and failing to support any of Governor Pritzker’s major investments, Senate Republicans have no legs to stand on and must result to grandstanding. 

“They know full well that many of the claims in the article that are prompting this action are demonstrably inaccurate and misleading.  The insinuation that DCFS improperly or nefariously acted to obscure facts in its administrative paperwork is false. It is up to department grantees to earnestly and diligently oversee their own subcontractors. So, once confidence in the model and operations were lost, the administration took decisive action and terminated the contract with Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center.”

Leader Curran filed, and Sen. Tracy co-sponsored Senate Resolution 1229, calling for an audit outside of the executive branch to review the abuse, background checks, staff hiring, the backdating of protective plans to determine the extent to which contracts were monitored, whether staff were properly screened and hired, and whether all allegations of abuse and mistreatment were properly investigated. 

They are also asking for an examination of the spending of State funds at Aunt Martha’s and A-Alert Security Services Inc; and whether Illinois State officials acted outside of the law regarding the allegations of abuse and oversight. 

“These were children who were abused, who had mental health diagnoses, kids who needed help and protection. What were the results? Allegations of sexual abuse, sex trafficking of children, and an admitted attempt at a government cover-up,” Tracy said. “The people of Illinois deserve to know what happened here, and the victims and their families deserve justice. An independent audit will provide us with answers so that we can work to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

The audit resolution will be filed in perfunctory session and the senators say they will continue to push for action during the upcoming Veto Session.

“These are kids,” Curran said. “If protecting the most vulnerable children in the state’s care isn’t a top priority then serious changes need to be made at the highest levels.”