Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith (left) and Danielle Gomez, a staff attorney for the Cook County Public Guardian’s office, testifying during a House hearing on Thursday

The head of the state’s embattled foster care agency on Thursday defended what he called the department’s “comfortable and safe” network of makeshift intake spaces being stood up in offices and private facilities around the state, directly contradicting critics who said state officials are leaving vulnerable children “in limbo” for weeks with sometimes devastating consequences.