Illinois lawmakers want independent audit of facility at center of abuse claims

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Illinois Senate Republicans on Friday filed a resolution calling for an independent audit of a Chicago facility at the center of a massive investigation.

The CBS News Chicago Investigators have been reporting for months on the allegations of sexual and physical abuse to children in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services at Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center, at 5001 S. Michigan Ave.

Lawmakers are calling for an audit outside of the executive branch to review the abuse, how staff members with criminal records were hired, and what they consider an attempted cover-up inside DCFS.

"These children were already victims of horrific crimes, and instead of providing them with the help they needed, the state made them victims all over again," said Illinois state Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), the Senate Republican Caucus Whip.

In July, at least two employees of Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center had been arrested and charged with abusing kids in their care. Manager Trulon Henry was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a young girl.

A short time before that, Antonio Hopkins , who worked at Aunt Martha's through a third-party security firm A-Alert, was also arrested and charged with abuse of a child. CBS News Chicago learned Friday that Hopkins is now a fugitive after failing to appear at a court hearing in August.

"According to our analysis the state has paid over $7.5 million to the security company alert over the past few years, most of which about $2.3 million appears to have been paid out after the first allegation of abuse," said Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran (R-Downers Grove).

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services started investigating these allegations at Aunt Martha's in August 2023, but did not stop sending kids there until May.

Tracy and Curran filed a Senate Resolution 1229—calling for an independent audit by the Illinois Auditor General, because they say DCFS and Gov. JB Pritzker's office not done enough to explain how Aunt Martha's was allowed to continue caring for kids in the system.

"The Governor's Office has refused to even comment on the horrific findings of this investigation and as a result, we are stepping up and calling for the Auditor General to conduct an audit of DCFS' handling of contracts and administration related to Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security services," Curran said in a news release.

When Aunt Martha's was finally shut down by DCFS this June, a longtime DCFS employee was accused of trying to backdate important records relating to the investigation.

The state senate resolution calls for an audit to review the abuse, background checks, staff hiring, and backdating of protective plans. They are also calling for an examination of the spending of state funds at Aunt Martha's and A-Alert Security Services.

The Governor's office released a statement Friday afternoon, taking Curran to task:

"The protection of our most vulnerable children is a responsibility that must be taken seriously. So, it's disappointing that Leader Curran would rather play political games by spreading falsehoods in public than have meaningful conversations with the Director he and his caucus voted to appoint.

The administration has made investments in the agency not seen in a generation. After supporting Bruce Rauner's disastrous cuts and failing to support any of Governor Pritzker's major investments, Senate Republicans have no legs to stand on and must result to grandstanding.

"They know full well that many of the claims in the article that are prompting this action are demonstrably inaccurate and misleading.  The insinuation that DCFS improperly or nefariously acted to obscure facts in its administrative paperwork is false. It is up to department grantees to earnestly and diligently oversee their own subcontractors. So, once confidence in the model and operations were lost, the administration took decisive action and terminated the contract with Aunt Martha's Integrated Care Center."

DCFS also released a statement:

"Governor Pritzker and the Department of Children and Family Services took decisive action to protect youth served by Aunt Martha's at their Integrated Care Center (ICC) that ultimately led to shutting down the program and terminating the contract.

"DCFS is committed to continuous improvements of its systems and is focused on efforts to advance the welfare of children in its care.  The department recognizes the importance of working collaboratively with stakeholders—including our legislative partners—to ensure the children and families we serve receive the optimal care and support they need and deserve, and we welcome the opportunity to work together to make meaningful progress toward that critical mission.

"DCFS is dedicating and prioritizing resources towards priorities such as hiring frontline staff, expanding specialized foster care, increasing supportive services for intact families and building a continuum of care for youth with complex behavioral health and developmental needs.  Our commitment to continuous improvement also requires evaluating our current programs and practices and, when necessary, changing course to ensure we are best meeting the needs of our children and families."

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said this has become a case of Aunt Martha's and DCFS pointing fingers at each other for what went wrong—and he agrees an outside agency should step in.

"I agree with this resolution. We need to know. We need to know what happened, how it happened, how long people knew what was going on, what they did, if anything, why any such efforts were ineffectual," Golbert said, "and DCFS cannot be expected to be investigating itself. That's just not realistic."

Lawmakers echoed CBS News Chicago's questions Friday about how two of the employees now charged with abuse could have been hired in the first place, given the fact that they are known to have had criminal records.

Pritzker's office said third-party contractors are not subject to DCFS background checks. As for other employees, the Governor's office said, "Neither a conviction for felony theft or armed robbery is a barrable offense for employment under Illinois law."