Legislator demands DCFS set record straight on child welfare interns
[December 19, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – A state legislator is demanding the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services correct the record and
apologize to families for the use of interns as investigators.
Months ago, state Rep. Jed Davis, R-Yorkville, brought the issue into
the forefront after he said he found out an investigation leading to a
family being separated from their child was led by an intern who didn’t
have the proper qualifications.
DCFS pushed back in August, saying Davis didn’t have the facts or the
law correct.
This week, Davis revealed public records of a Civil Service Commission
official acknowledging making a mistake on intern classifications.
“So I would want to provide an olive branch, I guess, to the department
that maybe they were relying on an expert’s statements that turns out
were incorrect,” Davis told The Center Square. “We got the legal
evidence and we’re right, interns don’t meet the experience
requirements. They should not be doing it.”
A spokesperson for the DCFS on Thursday maintained that Davis remains
legally and factually incorrect and said continued debate on the issue
wastes valuable agency resources from ensuring children are safe and
well cared for.
“As DCFS has stated on multiple prior occasions, Child Welfare Services
Interns are entry-level investigators who are qualified and often
experienced professionals who must complete investigator-specific
training, pass an examination and receive an investigator-specific Child
Welfare Employee License (CWEL) in order to conduct an investigation,”
the statement said.
The statement further said that upon further review earlier this year,
the Illinois Civil Service Commission confirmed “that there was no merit
to the claims that DCFS ‘violated the Personnel code’ with the use of
Child Welfare Services Interns.”
Davis countered that.
“With regard to supposed Civil Service Commission decision that DCFS is
apparently referencing, this yet is another example where both the Civil
Service Commission and DCFS are going to need to correct the record,”
Davis told The Center Square in a text.
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Illinois state Rep. Jed Davis, R-Newark, speaks during an online
video call. Photo: Greg Bishop / The Center Square
Documents obtained by The Center Square show a Civil Service
Commission administrative law judge stated the decision to dismiss
an allegation of DCFS violating the personnel code “was based upon a
lack of jurisdiction over the rules as alleged in the appeal,” and
not that there were no merits.
Davis is calling for the record to be corrected, for an apology to
families, and also for the agency to reinvestigate any cases where
an intern’s report led to actions disrupting families.
“Go back to the families that have been ones that were interns where
the lead and reinvestigate them and just either substantiate it or
maybe you’ll find out that there was some things missed, we owe
that,” Davis said.
Asked to review documents provided by Davis to The Center Square,
the agency spokesperson said continued debate with Davis on the
issue “is a waste of valuable agency resources.”
“The Department has spent a significant amount of time attempting to
help Representative Davis understand the regulations that apply to
the DCFS child protection investigations unit and has provided
documentation, including federal court records, clearly outlining
the legality of this entry level investigator position.”
Reacting to the latest statement from DCFS, Davis said: “They
clearly didn’t read the release, or they’re intentionally avoiding
the evidence it presents.”
“I’m not sure which one is worse. One is laziness, the other is
deliberate malfeasance,” Davis told The Center Square in a follow up
message.
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