A report on the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) for 2023 shows a year’s worth of issues within the troubled agency. A January 2024 report released by the Illinois Inspector General revealed that in 2022, nearly 50 more children died while on the radar of DCFS than in 2021.

Following a national search, Governor JB Pritzker appointed youth justice and child welfare expert Heidi Mueller as the next Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Mueller currently serves as Director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Mueller has served as Director of DJJ since 2016.

Marc D. Smith, the outgoing Director of DCFS, will continue to serve through January with Mueller assuming the Director role on February 1. Smith has been in the position since 2019 and has been held in contempt of court repeatedly for issues regarding the late placement of children.