Child welfare and juvenile justice advocates are feeling optimistic about systemic reform to Illinois’ public defense system wrapped in a bill signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on Aug. 15.
Over a two-year period, the Funded Advocacy and Independent Representation [FAIR] Act will work to establish a state public defender’s office and survey each county to understand where resources are needed. Those working with youth and families are urging statewide resources be specifically allocated to child welfare courts and juvenile justice—systems which heavily rely on public defenders.
Patrice James, founding executive director of the Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative and a former public defender, said what they call the “family regulation system”—more often referred to as the child welfare or child protection system—has not had enough attention paid in discussions about reforming public defense.
“It is a system that flies under the radar,” she said, though it runs in parallel with the criminal court system. “In both systems across the board, you see a lot of people with limited means. Unfortunately, though, when it comes to legal representation, there has not been the same level of focus and commitment to this side of the system. When people think public defender, they think ‘criminal.’ They do not think or even know this is a field of practice.”
According to monthly report published Aug. 31 by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, 231 children are placed under the state’s supervision in McLean County, with 110 in foster homes. Others live with relatives or in a group home. On average, 9,000 families living outside Cook County have active cases over the last five years.
As with the criminal system, DCFS data indicate Black or African American children are disproportionately represented. When isolating caseloads outside Cook County, Black children are 35% of all downstate children in the system. Census data indicate 8.3% of the population in McLean County is Black or African American.
“This is a system that is very similar to the criminal legal system in that Black families, in particular Black mothers and women, are overrepresented at every step and every stage of the system,” said James.
The right to an attorney
Parents involved in a child welfare case have a constitutional right to legal counsel, whether they can afford it or not, so the FAIR Act's reforms to the state’s public defense system could ripple outward—if child welfare remains part of the conversation.
James is part of a statewide working group to ensure it does.
“Illinois does not have the death penalty, but Illinois does have the power to terminate a parent’s rights," she said. "That is the civil death penalty.”
"That alone should require a level of focus and intention on ensuring lawyers who represent those parents are resourced and have the skillset and capacity to provide amazing, zealous representation,” she said.
McLean County fares well—with room for improvement
McLean County Public Defender Ron Lewis doesn't anticipate too much change in his office to start, with much of the FAIR Act's energy going toward smaller counties with far fewer resources. Lewis told WGLT his office employs two full-time attorneys dedicated to Juvenile Abuse and Neglect [JA] cases.
McLean County also has a year-old family treatment court, a voluntary program offered to parents involved in child welfare cases in which substance abuse is a primary factor. Modeled on the county’s other problem-solving courts, the program is the first of its kind in the state. Stakeholders hope it could be a blueprint for such initiatives in other counties.
But there’s little evidence public defenders’ offices are adequately resourced, with counties across the 11th Judicial Circuit, including McLean County, having no investigators, no social workers and not enough paralegals and support staff to meet the demand.
In 2024, McLean County's public defender handled 102 JA cases.
“In general,” Lewis said in an email, “an attorney with approximately 40 new JA cases during the year will also be tending to about 60 cases pending from previous years.”
Child welfare cases can last years as parents work through court-ordered services like counseling, drug and alcohol treatment or anger management with reunification as the end goal.
“All of that takes time,” James said, and is further bogged down by high turnover and chronically understaffed DCFS and public defense offices.
Illinois has recently made a concerted effort to recruit and retain staff. Responding to a WGLT request, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services noted 36 front-line staff working in McLean County, with three vacancies as of August 2025. The average time of service for investigators, supervisors and caseworkers has hovered near four years since 2023.
James said involvement in the child welfare system and foster care can also be a predictor of future involvement in the adult criminal court. And there’s a generational impact, with children in foster care more likely to see their own children enter foster care.
“What is exciting about the FAIR Act is the opportunity for public defenders to get more resources,” James said. “But those resources also need to be used for this work that, I would argue, is just as important and just as necessary.”
Juvenile court
Similar to child welfare court, public defenders are in high demand throughout the juvenile justice system.
“Children in Illinois are presumed indigent,” said Stephanie Kollman, policy director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University’s law school. “All of them. They don’t have independent income and, in fact, when parents become too involved in attorney selection, sometimes that can complicate things for youth.”
The juvenile system is designed to be less punitive than the adult system, “and that is really resource intensive,” Kollman said. “So, the lack of social workers, and the lack of other kinds of support staff, and the lack of attorney time really has an outsized impact on youth outcomes and young adult outcomes.”
Transparency and accountability
Statewide oversight of the public defense system might also create a layer of accountability within the child welfare and juvenile courts, which in Illinois are shielded from public scrutiny.
“These courtrooms are closed courtrooms,” said James. “Media can’t come in. That’s not true across the country. Part of the system thrives in secrecy. It thrives in its reputation of being shameful. People don’t talk about DCFS showing up at their door. People don’t talk about that.”
WGLT student reporter Colleen Holden and Cole Loiacano contributed.
