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Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith Held in Contempt of Court Yet Again for Lack of Placements for Foster Children After a Youth Spent More than Half a Year in a Psychiatric Hospital Beyond Medical Necessity
Judge Patrick Murphey took a hardline approach to DCFS’ inability to create or find proper placements for youth in foster care by issuing countless orders throughout 2022 that held Director Marc Smith in contempt of court. The basis for the twelfth contempt of court order involved a 15-year-old girl who was cleared to be released from a psychiatric hospital on January 14, 2022. Yet, by March 5, 2022, DCFS failed to find an appropriate placement for the minor. During a hearing on May 12, 2022, DCFS assured the court that the minor would be placed by the middle of June. However, by the beginning of July, the youth still had not been released from the psychiatric hospital, losing months of her life.
Judge Patrick Murphey took a hardline approach to DCFS’ inability to create or find proper placements for youth in foster care by issuing countless orders throughout 2022 that held Director Marc Smith in contempt of court. The basis for the twelfth contempt of court order involved a 15-year-old girl who was cleared to be released from a psychiatric hospital on January 14, 2022. Yet, by March 5, 2022, DCFS failed to find an appropriate placement for the minor. During a hearing on May 12, 2022, DCFS assured the court that the minor would be placed by the middle of June. However, by the beginning of July, the youth still had not been released from the psychiatric hospital, losing months of her life.