SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services blamed “significant miscommunication within the Department” for missing two court dates and its failure to respond to a lawsuit filed by Capitol News Illinois seeking the release of public records.

Gov. JB Pritzker told CNI on Wednesday he’s received assurances that the agency won’t miss a third upcoming court date on Sept. 9.

“Either through the notification process or some mix-up, they did not know about the court date,” Pritzker said. “And, so, they absolutely want to show up. It’s not like they’re avoiding it. We’ve got a great director there who is trying to do the right things.”

Capitol News Illinois sued the agency in March after it declined to release personnel files of two caseworkers and one supervisor who were responsible for monitoring Mackenzi Felmlee, a teenage girl who died while in foster care.

The lawsuit filed by Springfield attorney Don Craven in Sangamon County court alleged DCFS violated the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and asked a judge to compel DCFS to produce the records.

Craven’s office served DCFS with a summons on March 23, which was accepted by an office associate at the department’s main office in downtown Springfield. But DCFS did not respond to that lawsuit, leading CNI to file a motion for default judgment.

On June 10, Judge Jack Davis II issued an order finding DCFS “willfully and intentionally violated” FOIA when it failed to release the requested information. He ordered DCFS to produce the records within five days and to pay CNI’s costs, attorney fees and a $5,000 civil penalty.

Second hearing missed

After the department missed that hearing, CNI filed another motion asking the court to order DCFS and its director, Heidi Mueller, to appear personally and explain the agency’s failure to comply. Craven’s office issued a notice of hearing on that motion and again caused the notice to be personally served on the department. An office coordinator was served with that document, but DCFS failed to appear at the Aug. 11 hearing.

Judge Davis ordered Mueller and the agency to appear on Sept. 9 and threatened to begin assessing daily fines to the agency for its continued noncompliance.

At two separate media appearances this week, Pritzker said he believes DCFS will appear at the next hearing. Neither the governor nor the agency spoke to the nature of the miscommunication.

“I’m certain that if the communication process is improved, and that’s what we’re looking to do, to make sure that they know when the court hearing is, they will show up,” Pritzker said.

A spokesperson for DCFS said a fuller explanation will be given in court.

“Because this is in active litigation, DCFS will work with counsel to resolve the issues in the court,” spokesperson Heather Tarczan said. “Unfortunately, there was significant miscommunication within the Department regarding this matter. The Department will explain the situation in detail to the court. The Department did not and would never intentionally disregard the directions of a court or miss a court appearance. The Department is committed to working toward a favorable outcome for all parties as soon as possible.”

Mackenzi Flemlee’s care

CNI requested the documents while trying to learn more about the care Felmlee, 18, received before she was found dead in her foster home in May 2024.

According to doctors, she died from a blood clot that hit her lungs. She was found struggling to breathe at the bottom of the basement stairs in a Fairview Heights foster home. Her neck, shoulders, legs and face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds.

Her foster mother, Shemeka Williams, and foster grandmother, Cornelia Reid, are charged with murder in connection with Mackenzi’s death. Both are being held in the St. Clair County Jail.

Williams was licensed through Lutheran Children and Family Services, a nonprofit agency that provides foster care services on contract with DCFS.

According to a timeline of the incident released by DCFS, Williams purportedly told an LCFS caseworker during an in-person visit that Mackenzi was “struggling” two days before her death.

The caseworker, however, did not document that conversation until five days after Mackenzi’s death. LCFS later reported the visit was made by phone, not in person.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.