{"id":10189,"date":"2017-12-08T15:12:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T15:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arknews.org\/?p=10189"},"modified":"2017-12-08T15:12:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T15:12:23","slug":"high-caseloads-hinder-face-to-face-visits-with-foster-kids-child-welfare-agency-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arknews.org\/index.php\/2017\/12\/08\/high-caseloads-hinder-face-to-face-visits-with-foster-kids-child-welfare-agency-says\/","title":{"rendered":"High caseloads hinder face-to-face visits with foster kids, child welfare agency says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
DCFS DIRECTOR: Mischa Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite recent improvements in Arkansas\u2019s overloaded foster care system, the state Department of Human Services\u2019 Division of Children and Family Services is struggling to reduce the average caseload of its field staff, DCFS monthly data indicates.<\/span><\/p>\n

One consequence of high caseloads is that some foster children have little direct contact with the child welfare agency ultimately responsible for their care. In the 2017 fiscal year, 28 percent of foster children did not receive a face-to-face monthly visit from their family service caseworker. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also, 13 percent of foster children received no monthly face-to-face contact from any DCFS staff, regardless of their position or the purpose of the visit. That\u2019s an increase since 2014, when the figure was 4 percent. Over that same period, the number of children in the foster system swelled from about 4,100 to about 5,100.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the face-to-face visit metrics became the focus of questions from state lawmakers after DCFS Director Mischa Martin presented the agency\u2019s 2017 annual report to the legislature\u2019s Joint Committee on Aging, Children and Youth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone is missed in one month, are they put in the front of the line for the next month \u2014 so that maybe in a two-month period, everyone gets visited?\u201d Rep. Carlton Wing (R-North Little Rock) asked Martin. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could say, \u2018Absolutely, yes,\u2019 but [when] we started pulling data back in the spring \u2026 we saw kids on the list who hadn\u2019t been looked at in 60 or 90 days,\u201d she replied. The DCFS now requires local offices to prioritize those cases, Martin said: \u201cIf you didn\u2019t see them this month, you have to make it a priority to see them [next month].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin took over the DCFS last year, at a time when the state foster care population was reaching record levels. Since then, she has attempted to implement a number of reforms aimed at improving placement options and retaining staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Stephanie Flowers (D-Pine Bluff), who co-chairs the Children and Youth committee, asked whether the DCFS was running afoul of state law by failing to visit each foster child every month. \u201cThis policy, the face-to-face visits monthly \u2014 is that in our code?\u201d she asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin said it was not a statutory requirement, but that federal funds were tied to compliance. \u201cAnd it is also good practice to see that child, to establish that relationship, to know what\u2019s going on \u2026 .\u201d Research shows that children who are visited monthly by caseworkers return to their biological family or get adopted more quickly, Martin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past five years, the number of Arkansas children in foster care has increased by over 38 percent, placing greater strain on the system and its staff. There is disagreement about the cause: A report last year by an independent consultant hired by the DCFS pointed to \u201cquestionable removals\u201d of children from their families by overzealous caseworkers and the court system, but the DCFS disputed many of its findings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even before the uptick in recent years, some young clients rarely saw their caseworkers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shannon Boney, 23, who was a foster child from age 4 to 19, told the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network that it was \u201cvery common\u201d to not receive a visit from her caseworker for over a month. \u201cOr, we\u2019d see a secondary caseworker who doesn\u2019t know anything about us,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boney, who now lives in Sherwood, said she was placed in foster homes and residential facilities from Monticello to Springdale. She recalled some caseworkers who were apathetic \u2014 even hostile \u2014 and others who went above and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they don\u2019t even come out to foster homes. I had some pretty bad foster homes, and I\u2019d call and call. They\u2019d only come out when the parents actually call and set it up \u2014 when they\u2019re waiting for [the DCFS] to come and take the child out of the home,\u201d Boney said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, she added, \u201cThree particular caseworkers I had were very good.\u201d She remembers each one of those three workers by name. \u201cThey made sure I had what I needed. \u2026. They made sure they kept in contact with my foster mom, with me, with the school \u2026 . You know, they just made sure I was A-OK, and I wasn\u2019t going through anything I didn\u2019t need to be going through.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Even as a child, Boney noticed how overworked her caseworkers were, in part because she sometimes experienced the consequences. \u201cI would get passed off to another caseworker because my old caseworker had such a big caseload,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

A year ago, in December, the average family service caseload was 30; under Martin, the DCFS set a goal of reducing it to 20. (The national standard is 15.) The DCFS made progress on caseload reduction throughout most of 2017, and by the time the division <\/span>released a progress report in September<\/span><\/a>, the average had dipped down to 22.5.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Martin told the committee Wednesday that the caseload average has rebounded the past three months, to 26.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen school started back, we started breaking records with the number of calls that we\u2019re getting at the [child maltreatment] hotline, which upticked our caseload,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the meeting, Martin explained that teachers and other school staff are \u201cmandated reporters,\u201d meaning they are required to call the hotline if they suspect an instance of neglect or abuse. <\/span>Such reporting includes categories such as \u201cenvironmental neglect,\u201d meaning an unsafe or unhealthy living situation, or \u201ceducational neglect\u201d if a parent fails to send a child to school or to provide home schooling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t prove it, but there was new legislation related to posting the child abuse hotline number in the schools \u2026 which could have also increased the number of reports that we\u2019re getting,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the meeting, Rep. Danny Watson (R-Hope) asked whether the DCFS was \u201cadequately staffed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, the legislature, at the urging of Governor Hutchinson, gave the agency a funding increase. The extra money allowed the DCFS to hire additional caseworkers and implement a new state employee pay plan, effective July 1, which boosted the starting salary for family service workers from $30,713 to $36,155 and the starting salary for their supervisors from $37,332 to $45,010.<\/span><\/p>\n

The higher pay scale was intended to address the DCFS\u2019 dismal employee retention numbers. According to the agency\u2019s progress report published in September, \u201cmost Division service areas in the state faced a 32 percent turnover rate among Family Service Workers\u201d as of late 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n

Martin said the DCFS was also improving its worker training and implementing a new \u201cgraduated\u201d caseload system to avoid new hires being overwhelmed by an enormous number of cases or grueling tasks such as being on-call after hours. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really trying to walk workers through the training in an appropriate timeframe, as well as not overload them with cases,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, Martin also noted, \u201cI think realistically you always have to remember that this work is very hard, and that it is difficult to go into homes, to remove children, to work with families, repeatedly, even when you\u2019re trying your best. It\u2019s a tough job for our caseworkers, and so we\u2019ll probably always have higher [turnover] than some other professions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other numbers in the DCFS annual report illustrate clear progress on stated reform goals. The percentage of children placed with relatives \u2014 rather than with a family in the broader foster care system \u2014 increased to almost 30 percent, up from half that number two years ago. The ratio of foster home beds to foster children has increased from a year ago, from 0.7 to 0.8. And the number of overdue child maltreatment investigations has plummeted, from 1,627 last December to just 67 this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
This reporting is courtesy of the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network, an independent, nonpartisan news project dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans. Find out more at arknews.org.<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foster kids may go months without caseworker visit, the DCFS tells legislative panel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-child-welfare"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh caseloads hinder face-to-face visits with foster kids, child welfare agency says - Arkansas Nonprofit News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arknews.org\/index.php\/2017\/12\/08\/high-caseloads-hinder-face-to-face-visits-with-foster-kids-child-welfare-agency-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High caseloads hinder face-to-face visits with foster kids, child welfare agency says - 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