CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigators who made contact with AJ Freund’s family in the months prior to his death were overloaded with other cases — a problem that is pervasive and still prevalent within DCFS, according to new information released in the past week. Heidi Dalenberg, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told a federal judge that the two investigators who were handling the Freund case in the year prior to his April death had caseloads significantly higher than mandated by a federal consent decree.

The American Civil Liberties Union oversees the decree, which was set up by the ACLU in 1988 and requires investigators to not take on more than 12 to 15 cases per month or more than 153 new cases per year, according to the Chicago Tribune

One of the investigators handling AJ’s case was over the limit for cases for nine out of the 12 months in 2018, Dalenberg told U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso during a previously scheduled hearing on the consent decree Wednesday.

An audit released last month shows high caseloads for DCFS caseworkers are common. The report conducted by the Illinois auditor general found that 102 children who died between 2015 and 2017 had been part of previous investigations by DCFS, according to a May article in the Chicago Tribune. Other findings shed light onto an overloaded child abuse hotline and slow response times to initial complaints of child abuse or neglect.

DCFS officials admit something needs to be done and say they are taking steps to investigate AJ’s case and look into current cases to ensure changes are made to prevent child abuse and neglect deaths moving forward, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“In recent months, we have seen far too many crises,” DCFS Acting Director Marc Smith said during the Wednesday hearing. “Our mission is to protect children and keep them safe. The loss of innocent lives is heartbreaking. And when the child was involved with DCFS and dies, we are failing our mission.”

Another high-profile child abuse death, which involved several DCFS contacts, is that of Sema’j Crosby. The body of the 17-month Joliet girl was found under her family’s couch on April 27, 2017. The case remains unsolved and the toddler’s mother, paternal grandmother, aunt, a family friend and a minor who was in the home at the time of Crosby’s death remain persons of interest in the case, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Patch.com has detailed in recent weeks the encounters AJ’s parents had with DCFS during his short life. AJ was placed in foster care with a relative after he was born with opiates and benzodiazepines in his system. After 18 months, AJ was returned to his parents care and DCFS made 26 visits to the home where they reported no signs of abuse or neglect.

The family went almost two years without any contact with DCFS until calls started coming in again starting in March 2018, regarding “odd bruising” on AJ’s face and dog feces on the floor at the home. AJ made a comment to a doctor examining him in December 2018: “Maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe Mommy didn’t mean to hurt me.”

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services caseworker and supervisor involved in investigating the December complaint have been placed on administrative leave as an internal investigation is conducted.

The problems at 94 Dole Avenue were not new. Before AJ was born, his older brother, who is now 18 years old, lived in squalor and witnessed violent acts between Andrew Freund Sr. and Joann Cunningham. In 2012, Cunningham’s mother filed for custody of the child after Joann dropped him off with her in August 2012. Andrew Freund Sr. and Joann Cunningham reportedly met around that same time when Andrew Freund Sr. represented during Cunningham’s divorce and Cunningham moved into his home on Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake.

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