Another criminal appointed as DCFS director

Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, has had no shortage of controversy in the past few years – which makes the latest appointment such a mystery. DCFS has been under scrutiny in recent months for under-reporting record-high child death cases that involved DCFS’s prior involvement. A senate panel was called regarding the...

Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, has had no shortage of controversy in the past few years – which makes the latest appointment such a mystery.

DCFS has been under scrutiny in recent months for under-reporting record-high child death cases that involved DCFS’s prior involvement. A senate panel was called regarding the situation.

One of the department’s previous directors, Erwin McEwen, resigned abruptly in 2011 due to corruption allegations. McEwen was alleged to have illegitimately handed out $18 million in a DCFS contracting scheme involving a longtime friend.

Controversy is no stranger to the department.

Now the new pick for director, Arthur Bishop, has major ethical concerns of his own – as he has been convicted of theft while serving as a social worker, and was involved in a paternity child support case more recently.

Bishop pled guilty to stealing more than $9,000 from public clients while serving as a social worker in 1995. The theft occurred as a result of an elaborate fake DUI-recovery program created to scam public clients.

While working at the Bobby E. Wright substance abuse center, Bishop was collecting checks from patients guilty of DUI’s and in return was falsely telling them they’d get their licenses back. The former executive director stated: “He did something to the patients that was totally unethical, against the rules of the agency.”

Now Bishop – clouded in ethical concerns – is to lead a department with 3,000 employees handling more than 100,000 reports of child abuse and neglect each year.

This appointment doesn’t send Illinoisans a great message. In a state ranking third nationally in public corruption, it makes little sense to appoint a director with ethical baggage to a department already weighted down with its own.