Gov. Bruce Rauner and the director of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services are pushing for reforms aimed at improving care for at-risk youth.
At a news conference Monday, Gov. Rauner highlighted transformations at DCFS including reducing the number of children in shelter care by half, instituting a directive to ensure no child 6 or younger spends an evening in a shelter, and reducing the use of institutional residential treatment. The governor praised the new direction of DCFS under the guidance of Director George Sheldon.
In a statement, state Sen. Mattie Hunter says while she’s hopeful Sheldon will continue to work with human service advocates, she calls on the governor not to take credit for programs at DCFS he, quote, “considered nonessential and tried to zero out of the budget.”
In other State news: Now that the primaries are over, Gov. Bruce Rauner says lawmakers need to get back to work. However, the governor says politics may still be getting in the way.
During a news conference in Chicago Monday, Rauner said the characterization that he’s frustrated at the nearly 9-month-old budget impasse is putting it mildly.
Responding to the governor’s comments, Senate President John Cullerton’s spokesman John Patterson said, “The governor created this impasse back in June.” That’s when the governor vetoed most of the spending bills Democrats sent, saying they were unbalanced.
Patterson said Cullerton continues to hope that both sides can work toward productive solutions that, “give the governor the ability to honor his administration’s commitments and turn our state around with a common-sense budget agreement.”
