16 children forced to sleep in DCFS offices over about 2-month span, agency says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has admitted that the agency had not been tracking how many children were forced to sleep in its offices.

The finding comes roughly a week after Cook County's Public Guardian sued the department in an effort to order the agency to release information about children sleeping in its offices.

RELATED: DCFS accused of keeping children inside makeshift shelters in city offices

The agency is now reporting that 16 children were forced to sleep in DCFS offices between May 6 and June 28 of this year.

The Department of Children and Family Services didn't keep track of that information before May 6, the agency said.

The department told ABC 7 on Thursday that the number of shelter beds it can use has dropped 70% since 2015.