PROVIDENCE- Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Tuesday nominated former Illinois child welfare official Ashley Deckert to serve as the next permanent director of the R.I. Department of Children, Youth and Families.
The nomination now heads to the Rhode Island Senate for advice and consent. If approved, Deckart would replace Kevin Aucoin, who has served as acting director of the state’s chief child welfare agency since 2019.
McKee said Deckert, who has worked for years in various capacities at the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services, has “dedicated her successful career to enhancing the wellbeing of children and families.”
“She is an experienced leader with a proven track record, and I am grateful she is bringing that knowledge and experience to Rhode Island,” he said in his statement.
An adjunct professor at the University of Illinois School of Social Work, Deckert worked for 13 years at the IDFS, ending as deputy director of Child Services. She most recently served as director of public policy and government affairs with the Illinois Collaboration on Youth, a Chicago-based advocacy organization.
“If confirmed, I look forward to working with amazing and dedicated staff, community-based providers, the Rhode Island General Assembly, the union, and other pertinent stakeholders to impact systems change and work toward continual improvement of the child and family well-being system in Rhode Island,” Deckert said in a statement Tuesday. “To do this we must center youth and family voice and look at providing services and support further upstream in order to prevent involvement in the child protection system.”
Deckert holds master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in social work and in public policy from the University of Chicago.
Deckert would take over an agency that has struggled to retain and recruit staff in recent years. DCYF has seen 116 employees leave since January 2022, 66 of whom resigned. As many as 63 children under DCYF care are currently placed in out-of-state facilities.
McKee recently pushed through a salary increase for the DCYF director position from $135,000 to $162,500.
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
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