Heidi Mueller is taking on the big task of leading the beleaguered Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

She was appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in February as the 13th director in 14 years, coming from her position as the director of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and following the resignation of her predecessor, Marc Smith, who was found in contempt of court a dozen times during his four-and-a-half-year tenure at the agency.

Mueller testified in court last month regarding the same issues Smith was held in contempt for — most notably, an ongoing placement shortage crisis that has put minors in inadequate and sometimes harmful housing situations.

According to a court filing from the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, more than 1,000 children were impacted by these issues last year. That includes minors who remained in locked psychiatric wards after being cleared for discharge, minors being kept in juvenile jails past their release dates and minors staying in short-term emergency placements for longer than a month.

Mueller said she took on the role of director because she wants to be part of the solution for kids with complex, high-acuity needs that end up in places like psych wards or emergency centers.

“Every single one of our 24,000 kids (in DCFS care) deserves to be treated like we would want our own kids to be treated,” Mueller said.

Part of her immediate work began with reaching out to stakeholder partners in the state like the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, the Guardian ad Litem and the medical community.

“We know that we can’t do it alone,” Mueller said. “We know that it requires collaboration with the courts. We have to come up with solutions together, avoid finger-pointing and decide how we’re going to make life better for these kids that are entrusted in our care.”

The director said core priorities for her are ensuring kids have the best placement and increasing the number of placements available. She attributes these historic problems, in part, to a lack of government investment in DCFS.

Pritzker’s 2025 budget proposal invests $100 million into the agency.

“We are really committed to using that $100 million to continue to invest in the types of specialized services that we really need, and use data to drive that development,” said Mueller, referencing the lack of care for children who have developmental delays or are on the autism spectrum.

She promises resources such as home-like, therapeutic care settings for those children and more within the next 18 months.