Landmark of Itasca: Unqualified Social Worker Leads Dept - IL
She is still there.
The facility's own job description for the Social Services Director position, which the director herself signed in January 2023, spells out the credentials required: a bachelor's degree in psychology or sociology, a bachelor's or master's degree in social work, or a Licensed Clinical Social Worker's certificate. The woman identified in inspection records as V3 has none of these. She applied for the job in June 2021 with a high school diploma as her highest credential and accepted the offer the following month.
Federal inspectors returned to the facility on November 13, 2025, and found her still directing social services for 129 residents.
When inspectors sat down that morning with the facility's administrator, the Director of Nursing, and a consultant, the administrator did not dispute any of it. V3 had been identified as unqualified during a previous complaint survey, the administrator confirmed. She had remained in the role since then. The plan, the administrator said, was for V3 to stay on as Social Services Director while the facility looked for someone qualified to replace her. There was no timeline given for when that search might conclude.
The facility's daily census, dated November 5, 2025, counted 129 residents, putting it well above the 120-bed threshold that triggers the federal requirement for a full-time, qualified social worker.
Social services directors in nursing homes carry significant responsibility. They are typically the staff members residents and families turn to when care concerns arise, when discharge plans need to be made, when a resident's mental health is deteriorating, or when someone needs help navigating benefits and appeals. At Landmark of Itasca, that role has been filled for more than four years by someone whose credentials do not meet the facility's own written standard for the position, let alone the federal requirement.
The inspection classified the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and listed the number of residents affected as many. That language, drawn from the federal deficiency scale, reflects inspectors' assessment that no specific resident had yet been documented as harmed by the arrangement. It does not mean the arrangement was recent, accidental, or quickly corrected.
The facility has known about this problem since at least the prior complaint survey, which preceded the November 2025 inspection. The administrator's own statement makes clear that the response to that earlier finding was not to immediately find a qualified replacement, but to leave V3 in place and begin recruiting. How long that recruiting process has been underway, and how many months passed between the prior survey and November 13, is not specified in the inspection record. What is specified is that on the day inspectors arrived, nothing had changed.
V3 signed the job description laying out the qualifications she did not have in January 2023, nearly two years into her tenure. Whether that signing reflected an awareness of the gap between her credentials and the position's requirements, or was simply a routine administrative formality, the record does not say.
What the record does say is that 129 people living at Landmark of Itasca, people who may be navigating the end of their lives, recovering from strokes or surgeries, dealing with dementia, or trying to understand what happens to them when their Medicare days run out, have had their social services needs handled by someone the facility itself acknowledges should not be in the role.
The administrator said V3 would remain as Social Services Director until a qualified replacement was hired.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Landmark of Itasca Rehabilitation and Nursing Cent from 2025-11-17 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: August 31, 2026 · Our methodology
Landmark of Itasca Rehabilitation and Nursing Cent in ITASCA, IL was cited for violations during a health inspection on November 17, 2025.
The woman identified in inspection records as V3 has none of these.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.