Federal suit claims Illinois Family Services held children past release date

By BETH HUNDSDORFER Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Thursday was named in a federal classaction lawsuit on behalf of children in state care who have been held in juvenile detention centers after a judge ordered their release

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert is a plaintiff in the 32-page lawsuit in the Norther n District of Illinois, alleging that children in the care of DCFS are being held in detention for months without necessary medical and mental health treatment, educational opportunities, or consistent access to friends and family.

Each of the children, some as young as 11 years old, were wards of the state when they came in contact with the juvenile justice system and were placed in juvenile detention.

The lawsuit centers on what happened to those wards after they received what is known as a “release upon request” order from a judge, which allowed for their release from incarceration at the request of their guardian.

The guardian for the children covered under the lawsuit was DCFS, which, the lawsuit argues, failed to place the children in a safe and appropriate environment in a timely manner. Instead, they remained incarcerated.

“These wrongful imprisonments and DCFS’s years of unending persistence in them are among the most brazen constitutional violations I’ve witnessed as an attor ney,” said Pierce, one of the who represent the “Wrongful imprisonment is a violation of Amendment of Constitution.”

The lawsuit this practice by officials has continued decades, jailing children suffered physical, other traumas before were taken into DCFS

The lawsuit represent all indi placed in DCFS Jan. 1, 2018, that least seven consecuti days incarcerated court order for their upon request. The estimated the class “well over 100 children.

The suit named defendants DCFS Marc Smith, deputy directors Williams and Ryan Good as well as for mer and senior agency officials

The lawsuit demanded a jury trial and requested plaintiffs be awarded compensatory damages, costs and attor neys’ fees from all defendants including DCFS, as well as punitive damages from the individual defendants named in the suit.