East Central Reporter

Illinois State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is condemning the state's Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) for a recent scandal where a vulnerable teen was placed in the care of an accused sex trafficker.

"Our state is broken - ethically, financially, morally. In what world would you ever imagine a headline such as this?" Plummer wrote in a March 27 Facebook post. "In Illinois, sadly, we have just become accustomed to them. There is no excuse, there is no 'messaging' away from the disaster that is the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. How many more kids have to die? How many more children have to see their futures destroyed before we get a governor who will go in and tear this agency down to the studs and rebuild it?"

In his Facebook post, Plummer shared a link to a CBS story about a DCFS placement that put a 16-year-old girl, that had previously been a victim of sex trafficking, with a 24-year-old pimp with an extensive criminal history. The three-time convicted felon is currently accused of forcing the girl into prostitution after she was placed into his care. 

"It's not like the IDCFS disaster is a secret or that this is a new phenomenon. When will the media, legislature, and Illinoisans demand accountability and competence? Talk is cheap, Governor JB Pritzker, these are your agencies. Put your presidential aspirations aside for a moment and fix this," Plummer's Facebook post continued. "No matter where we look - IDCFS, Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Department of Corrections - we continue to see the State of Illinois fail the most vulnerable among us. If people don't lose their jobs this week over this story it tells you all you need to know about the entrenched bureaucracy and big talk, no action coming from the executive branch."

The CBS report included a response from the DCFS stating, "In this case, the 16-year-old was placed with a friend of the family with the support of both her birth and adoptive mothers and the guardian ad litem in an effort to provide her with stability due to her history of running away from previous placements. Over the next several months DCFS regularly met with the friend of the family as well as the adoptive and birth mothers and the guardian ad litem on a placement plan. These are the individuals with parental rights and responsibilities related to the child and DCFS, therefore, works closely with them to determine an appropriate plan of action for the child. The child has since been removed from this household and there are no other foster or adoptive children living in this household. The child is currently in the care of a DCFS private partner and DCFS is working expeditiously to find a permanent and medically appropriate placement for this child that will provide her with the care she requires."

Plummer joined the Illinois Senate in 2019, He was elected to represent the people of the 54th Senate District. Outside his legislative work, Plummer is the vice president of R.P. Lumber and R.P. Home and Harvest, family owned and operated businesses with over 100 locations throughout Illinois and six other states.