Illinois State Senator Heather Steans and Representative Camille Lily wrote a joint op-ed in today's Chicago Sun-Times which made an important connection: U.S. Representative Todd Akin's recent comments about rape highlights the need to improve sexual health education curricula across the country, and in Illinois. The ACLU of Illinois is a member of a coaltion of organizations that worked with Senator Steans and Representative Lily to pass a piece of legislation - HB 3027 -  that would modernize sex ed in Illinois public schools. The bill passed in the Senate, but failed to get enough votes to pass in the House. The bill is expected to be re-introduced in the next legislative session.

Rep. Akin’s misinformed comments launched anew that seemingly endless dialogue about women’s reproductive rights. We should not let that conversation blind us to the appalling lack of public education about reproductive health that his comments reveal. We can ensure that our young people at least have a base line of information about sexual health throughout life.

Read the whole thing.

 

The Chicago Reporter published an in-depth and heartbreaking article about how the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) responds to cases of child abuse and neglect, highlighting an alarming trend: many of the children end up dying before DCFS can investigate. Since the 90's, the ACLU of Illinois has kept a watchful eye on DCFS, as part of a consent decree to address high caseloads and to reform guidelines and practices.

Still, after nearly two decades, some terms of the consent decree have yet to be met, said Benjamin Wolf, the ACLU’s associate legal director in Illinois. The investigators’ caseload, for example, is supposed to get only up to 15 new cases per month, but each investigator still handles an average of more than 20 cases per month, Wolf said.

“You can’t do your job if you have these many cases,” Wolf said. “There is just no way you can adequately investigate each case.”

Read the whole thing.

Below is the slate of proposed new board members nominated for a 3-year term ending, December 2015:

1. Thurston Bailey
2. Leonard Goodman
3. Alais Griffin
4. Jennie Berkson
5. Hilda Vega