Pritzker Administration announces new program to provide free smoke alarms to families served by DCFS

 

[December 17, 2019] 

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has announced a new program to provide smoke alarms to families served by the department if they do not have a working smoke alarm in their home. Families served by DCFS may now request smoke alarms from their caseworker; and caseworkers will now have access to a supply of smoke alarms when visiting families.

According to the National Fire Protection Association:

• Three out of five home fire deaths result from fires in properties without working smoke alarms.

• More than one-third (38 percent) of home fire deaths result from fires in which no smoke alarms are present.

• The risk of dying in a home fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms.

“Fire prevention experts have documented that smoke alarms save lives,” said Illinois DCFS Acting Director Marc Smith. “The department is committed to doing everything we can to protect Illinois children, and ensuring that every family we serve has a working smoke alarm is one more step we are taking to ensure families and children are safe.” Families served by DCFS may request smoke alarms from their caseworker or call their local field office directly to request one.

“Half of home heating fires are reported during the months of December, January and February,” said DCFS Regional Administrator Maria Miller. “With the launch of this program we have already distributed 15 smoke alarms to Macon County families, and with this program all caseworkers statewide can quickly provide smoke alarms to the families we work with. This is one more initiative to keep children safe – a top priority of our work.”

Illinois law requires every household to have smoke alarms within 15 feet of every bedroom and at least one on each floor of the home.

About the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Founded in 1964, DCFS is responsible for protecting children from abuse or neglect by responding to calls received on the Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-25-ABUSE (1-800-252-2873). With the goal of keeping children safe, DCFS strengthens and supports families with a wide range of services. When keeping a child safe means removing them from the home, DCFS makes every effort to reunite them with their family. When the best interest of the child makes this impossible, DCFS is committed to pursuing adoption by loving families to provide children with a safe and permanent home. DCFS is also responsible for licensing and monitoring of all Illinois child welfare agencies.

[Illinois Office of Communication and Information]