Gov. Bruce Rauner has appointed former Georgia Human Resources Commissioner Beverly "BJ" Walker to be the new director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

George Sheldonn the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has resigned in the face of an ethics probe and controversy over recent child deaths.  

The death of a one-year-old child in Joliet Township has Illinois' child-welfare agency on the defensive. Department of Children and Family Services director George Sheldon testified Wednesday before a state Senate committee.

Mental health centers were decimated during Illinois’ extended budget stalemate. Illinois is moving forward with plan to extend and expand behavioral health services to people who couldn't otherwise afford it, in a way that officials say will be cost-neutral to taxpayers. 

The state budget impasse could put more young people out on the streets this winter.