Family & Safety
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
If you are indicated of abusing or neglecting a child or children by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), you can appeal that finding.
You only have 60 days from the date written on the letter from Springfield to appeal a DCFS decision, not the date that you receive the letter. Steps on how to appeal will be in the letter. A lawyer can represent you in the appeal process, but you may also represent yourself.
If you decide to represent yourself, know the rules. They’re online from the Illinois General Assembly's website.
- Regulations regarding DCFS appeals are in title 89, in section 336
- Rules about DCFS reports are at Section 300
- Abuse and neglect definitions are in its Appendix B
A great guide, including a sample DCFS file, is available from Ascend Justice.
Within 20 days of filing an appeal, you’re supposed to receive a copy of the DCFS file. The file will include notes from all interviews that the investigator conducted and may include records that they reviewed. Confidential information, like who called DCFS or contact information for third parties, may be redacted or blacked out.
An in-person hearing is supposed to be held within 70 days of your appeal, however since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, many of these hearings have been held over Zoom. A telephone pre-hearing occurs 15 days before the actual hearing, to complete final preparations for that hearing.
You can require the DCFS investigators to appear at the hearing. You can also subpoena other people, to have them testify.
The neutral administrative law judge who conducts the hearing is a DCFS employee and is also a lawyer. The hearing must be tape recorded.
Within 15 days of the hearing, and 90 days of when you filed your appeal, the ALJ must make a written report. That report must include a recommended decision on whether there is enough evidence of abuse or neglect based on information in the administrative record.
That recommendation goes to the director of DCFS, who can adopt, reject, or modify it. The director’s decision officially completes the administrative appeal process.
If the final decision is that there wasn’t evidence to support an indicated finding, the report can be expunged from the DCFS central register.
What if I don’t appeal?
If you decide not to appeal the indicated finding, your name remains on the State Central Register (SCR). The SCR is a list of people who have been found to be indicated perpetrators of child abuse and/or neglect.
Your name will remain on the SCR for 5 to 50 years, depending on the specific allegation that you have been indicated for.
Information on the SCR is confidential and not open to the general public. However, state law requires that some employers do a background check using the SCR on potential employees or volunteers. This includes day care centers, some schools, and other facilities where people work directly with children.
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
