DCFS members rally against service cutbacks

Nearly 600 AFSCME members and supporters, including representatives from the Chicago Teachers Union, marched and rallied at Chicago's Thompson Center to call attention to the devastating consequences of laying off hundreds of child protective workers.

The Quinn Administration is planning to lay off more than 350 employees in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at a time when child welfare caseloads have already reached untenable levels.  The cutbacks will force the dismantling of vital family preservation programs that are essential to keeping children safe in their own family homes and reducing foster care placements.

AFSCME Local 2081, which represents DCFS employees in Cook County, brought all those concerned with protecting vulnerable children from abuse and neglect together for the Sept. 19 rally.  They want to make sure that the public understands just how devastating the layoffs and cutbacks will be for children at risk of abuse and neglect.

"'Intact' workers make a real difference in the lives of children and families," said Sharon Moriarty-Cordin, a 13-year veteran of the agency. "Without us, vulnerable and needy families will be left without what is sometimes the only support they have."

"I want to see the decision makers consider how much this is going to cost families," caseworker Cesario Lopez said, "including the families that keep this department functioning."

In the home page photo, DCFS workers symbolically laid dolls at the feet of Gov. Pat Quinn. Each doll represents 250 children who won't get services from the agency.