Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove) released the following statement in response to Gov. Pritzker’s announcement that Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Director Heidi Mueller will be replacing Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Director Marc Smith on February 1.
“Governor Pritzker has had more than five years to bring DCFS into compliance with the federal court consent decree overseeing his department’s ongoing failures with some of our most vulnerable youth. To date, the governor has failed to lead the agency into compliance. While I appreciate Director Mueller’s willingness to move over from the DJJ to lead this agency, until Gov. Pritzker focuses his attention and prioritizes successful compliance at DCFS, vulnerable children will continue to be exposed to unnecessary risk.”
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