Blogs by Deborah K. Frontiera
Fighting CPS
11/7/2011 6:44:59 AM
The purpose of this blog is to provide updates on some of the cases I reported in my book (Fighting CPS: Guilty Until Proven Innocent of Child Protective Services Charges ISBN 9-780-9800061-6-2) that had not been resolved when the book went to press, and to report other cases where CPS is not working up to par. I’d also like to hear about cases in which Child Protective Services did the right thing so those cases can serve as examples of what should be done. Occasionally, I will report helpful tips and web sites with advice on fighting CPS.
The Other End of the Spectrum Continued
Last week, I reported on an article sent to me by a friend in Hillsborough Co. Florida—Tampa/St. Petersburg area. (St. Petersburg Times, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011front page and page 10A, John Barry, staff writer, jberry.sptimes.com, 813-226-3383)
The vendor, Hillsborough Kids, Inc., which had contracted with Hillsborough Co. for outsourced services to families had eight children die while under their (or their subcontractors’) supervision. Because of this, their $65.5 million contract with the state is in jeopardy.
This week, I’d like to mention the steps Hillsborough Kids plans to take to correct their problems. While this vendor does manage thousands of other children “successfully,” they do admit to some shortcomings. Some of the stated problems include: caseworkers being unaware when boyfriends/ex-boyfriends who are not supposed to have contact with children (by court order) continue to be a part of the picture; caseworkers did not provide some mothers with enough support; criminal backgrounds of boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, mothers, other family members who have contact with children are not thorough enough; caseloads are too high; frontline workers who have direct contact with families of at-risk children do not understand family dynamics enough to see potential dangers; supervisors sometimes do not backup young, inexperienced caseworkers enough; home visits not frequent enough—or two workers visit at the same time for safety reasons but count the visit as two separate visits; and not making changes fast enough in a redesigned program.
Wow! That’s a lot of problems.
Hoped for solutions:
Use of a new software program that will identify families with several risk factors such as teen mothers, daycare problems, past domestic violence, parents who were abused as children, past problems with drug and alcohol abuse. Several of these factors showed up in all eight cases where children died.
Creation of a special dependency court for high-risk cases to be presided over by a circuit court judge. (Hopefully a well-qualified judge with plenty of experience in such cases—the article did name the judge but did not list qualifications, perhaps for lack of space.)
An additional sixteen hours of training for frontline caseworkers to learn how to size up families and household environments. Additional training hours for supervisors, too.
For the sake of the children, let’s hope it works.
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