Child Abuse

The state of Illinois is rolling out a new app to help parents of abused and neglected children communicate with their Department of Children and Family services caseworkers and with other service providers.

Volunteers are needed to support children experiencing abuse and neglect, or who are part of the foster care system.

A McLean County program that supports abused and neglected children is expanding to Logan County.

The head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said the agency has made big gains in reducing chronic staff shortages this year.

Since May, 667 people have joined lawsuits alleging sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers across the state, according to attorneys.

Child deaths involving the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services increased by 40 percent in the last fiscal year.

McLean County's new state's attorney says she hopes the job will give her a better platform to address child welfare issues. Erika Reynolds has been critical of the how Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has handled abuse allegations.

Each state creates its own definitions of abuse and neglect and sets a threshold for when a child should be removed from a home. Is it time to rethink Illinois' definitions?

Child welfare experts acknowledge that meaningful reform often follows the chaos of dysfunction and years of litigation. Here's how other states and cities have done it.

In Rica Rountree's case, mandated reporters alerted the state’s child welfare agency of potential serious abuse. They sounded the alarm bell repeatedly, only to have those alarms ignored or not thoroughly investigated by the agency tasked with doing so. Instead, the investigator who mishandled Rica’s case was promoted.