Dealing with child welfare agency requires special set of legal skills

Lawyers’ Forum

By Kent Dean

Kent Dean was an assistant Cook County public defender from 2000 to 2007. Since 2008, he has served families and children facing Children and Family Services Department involvement and criminal matters with the Law Office of Kent Dean Ltd. in Oak Park. He can be reached at kdean@kentdeanlaw.com.

Posted September 25, 2019 4:21 PM

All it takes is one phone call to change a family’s life forever. Typically it is a professional — a mandated reporter such as a doctor or educator — who initiates the call. Sometimes it’s a neighbor or family member.Regardless, it’s a hotline call that sets in motion an investigation of child abuse by the Illinois Department of Child Protection.From July 2017 to June 2, 2018, there were 276,538 calls to the department hotline. Subsequently there were 77,422 so-called family investigations …

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