DCFS reports progress and staffing limits; home visits below target

Tiffany Wright, director of the Division of Children and Family Services, presented DCFS’s quarterly performance report for state fiscal year 2024 Q2 (Oct–Dec 2023). She reported 7,504 incoming child maltreatment reports to the hotline during the quarter, of which 6,204 were assigned to DCFS for investigation.

Wright said DCFS ended the quarter with about 3,702 children in foster care and emphasized the division’s work toward permanency: 38% of discharges were adoptions and 37% were reunifications in the period cited. She noted approximately 77% of required monthly in‑home visits were completed (DCFS goal is 85%), and acknowledged the division trended down on some permanency metrics in the quarter.

When legislators asked why visits were below target, Wright cited workforce shortages, balancing workloads and logistical constraints (transportation, staff availability) as primary drivers. DCFS is tracking missed visits, increasing internal messaging and working with private partners to recruit foster homes and reallocate staff where safe and feasible. Wright said monthly home visits by any DCFS staff remained higher than the family‑service‑worker specific metric, indicating operational differences in reporting counts.

Committee members pressed on foster‑home closures and workforce planning; Wright said closure reasons vary (adoption, burnout, DCFS decisions) and DCFS will try to provide follow‑up data on average retention of foster homes and other metrics requested by legislators.