An audit has found that Illinois does a poor job monitoring and tracking children who run away from foster homes.
Auditor General William Holland reported Thursday the Department of Children and Family Services does not keep reports on the total number of missing children in a year or their previous locations.
In 2011 and 2012, DCFS estimated as many as 3,100 children went missing in up to 29,200 separate incidents. But they were not all runaways. They included wards of the state whose caregivers did not know their whereabouts.
The report also noted shortfalls in tracking how timely authorities were notified when necessary.
DCFS spokeswoman Veronica Resa says the agency agrees with the audit. She says "additional controls" have been implemented and training is forthcoming.
