The top human resources official at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services approved roughly $1.4 million in extra pay for employees that broke state rules, according to the state inspector general. Kimberly Bates resigned after the investigation, and records show she herself received nearly $52,000 in extra pay along the way.
The findings, detailed by the Chicago Tribune, show the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General reviewed DCFS payroll records spanning fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2026. Bates held the highest-level human resources position at the agency, according to the inspector general report, and employees in her own office received about 30% of the $1.4 million in extra pay that investigators flagged.
Illinois rules generally allow pay adjustments of up to 5% in limited circumstances, but the inspector general found employees in Bates's department were awarded extra pay that often exceeded that cap and sometimes reached 25% of their salaries. DCFS referred to the arrangement internally as extra duty pay, with employees receiving a percentage of their salaries on top of regular pay, in some cases tied to work on specific projects.
Pay Continued Without Required Approval
Investigators concluded that Bates approved extra-duty pay for employees performing tasks that were actually assigned to other positions, and the report found some of that work was not at a higher level or outside employees' regular job duties. Some employees kept receiving extra pay even after the end date listed in their original requests, with no paperwork documenting any extension, the inspector general found. Others received the extra payments for months or even years.
Bates admitted that DCFS never obtained state approval for any employee who received extra-duty pay, according to the inspector general report, even though special pay typically needs sign-off from the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. After the findings, the agency required its chief operating officer to review all such requests. The report noted the extra-duty pay system itself had been removed from the state's official pay plan decades earlier, and investigators found that the increases were not properly recorded — leaving the agency, in the inspector general's words, vulnerable to error, inequity and abuse.
Bates Says She Was Singled Out
Bates has pushed back hard on the findings. She said she simply continued a pre-existing departmental practice and that the extra payments were never hidden, and she said she felt targeted for discipline while other staff also took part in the pay process. She has also said her own medical leave was for recovery from brain surgery, during which she still received extra pay, according to the inspector general report.
Bates filed a complaint against DCFS with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and she criticized the inspector general's office over its interview choices and what she called a misrepresentation of her statements. She said the outcome of the investigation had devastated her, and that she believed the report would not be made public if she resigned. DCFS Director Heidi Mueller wrote in a letter that Bates resigned after the inspector general's office recommended discipline, and Mueller said the agency promptly took corrective action after learning that some extra pay lacked proper approval.
Other Staff Also Disciplined
The inspector general's report also flagged separate misconduct elsewhere at the agency. One DCFS employee was found to have taken nearly every Friday off for months at a time, with investigators concluding that worker abused state time, including by handling personal matters while on the clock. That employee was ultimately suspended for 15 days.
The inspector general's office is authorized to refer cases for criminal prosecution, but DCFS and the inspector general's office did not respond to questions about whether anyone connected to the extra-pay findings was referred for prosecution. The agency has faced scrutiny for decades over leadership turnover, improper placements and incomplete implementation of changes mandated after a neglect-related death, according to the Tribune's reporting.
Illinois's Department of Central Management Services describes its pay procedures as the official method for compensating most state employees under the governor, implementing both federal law and the Illinois Personnel Code and CMS pay rules. DCFS is far from the only Illinois government body to face questions over extra pay practices; a January 2023 report on Chicago Public Schools found widespread fraud and abuse tied to extra pay, noting the cost of such payments to district employees climbed from $42.5 million in 2017 to $73.9 million in 2021, according to The Center Square.
