PEORIA -- Crystal Clark has settled down in front of the Peoria County courthouse, on the corner of Main and Jefferson, to protest the treatment of her grandchildren in foster care, and the refusal of Chief Judge Rick Grawey to meet with her group to discuss child welfare issues. 
A statue of Abraham Lincoln in the courthouse plaza overlooked Clark, 50, an African-American. By 2 p.m. on July 24 she had been there for 24 hours without food or water.
She said her grandchildren had been found to be dehydrated at the hands of foster parents, and she plans to refuse both food and water to call attention to their treatment.
Judge Grawey came out to speak with Clark, but said he cannot discuss her family's case, which is pending, and also could not meet with her group.
Clark said her grandchildren, now aged four and three, have been in foster care since 2003. She has picketed and protested before to no avail, she said.
Clark's daughter lost the children when she was sent to prison for petty theft, but the children remained in the home they all were sharing with Clark. Then the children were removed from Clark's care by a Catholic Social Service caseworker and placed in foster care.
Clark says that occurred because she complained when the caseworker took videotapes from her home. She has also picketed the Catholic diocese offices.
While in foster care the children were abused, she said, and placed in several homes including one condemned by the the city of Peoria, before landing in foster care in a rural Peoria home. They have not been taken to their own church, she said, adding religious discrimination to the list of problems.
Clark's daughter is scheduled to appear in court on July 25.
An official with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has promised to scrutinize Clark's family case. But Clark was skeptical, saying those promises have been made before but nothing changes.
The agency is also studying how to improve the system in Peoria, he said.
In Peoria County, one-fourth of children are black but more than 60 percent of the children in foster care are black, according to DCFS figures.
--Elaine Hopkins
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