In child welfare, DYFS gets a resounding F

In child welfare, DYFS gets a resounding F
Agency ranks last among states on new federal test
Saturday, May 22, 2004
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG
Star-Ledger Staff

New Jersey's beleaguered Division of Youth and Family Services failed
13 of 14 federal tests of how well it protects children and monitors
their welfare, posting the worst performance among 46 states surveyed
so far.

The survey, released yesterday by the federal Administration for
Children and Families, gave DYFS a passing grade only for having a
statewide computer system to track all children in foster care. New
Jersey failed to meet 13 other federal benchmarks, including all seven
that directly measure child safety and welfare, and showed marked
deficiencies in keeping children safe in their own homes.

It was the first federal survey designed to measure how well state
agencies protect children, and it found widespread problems. No state
passed in all 14 categories. Forty-five states met from two to nine of
the federal standards. Final reports have yet to be issued for
Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri and Nevada.

Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the
federal Department of Health and Human Services, said the standards
were deliberately set high.

"We didn't want to set a minimal floor," Horn said. "We wanted to set
a high bar to challenge states to improve their child welfare
systems."

In New Jersey, the survey covered the 18-month period from October
2002 to March of this year and documented all of the same problems
that already had been brought to light by well-publicized cases of
abuse and a federal lawsuit filed by Children's Rights Inc. State
officials had predicted DYFS would fare poorly.

"Quite frankly, we expected this," state Human Services Commissioner
Jim Davy said. "Our system is broken and in need of fundamental and
monumental reforms."

Davy said the survey underscored the need for $125 million in
additional state funding to improve DYFS by implementing a reform plan
that was developed to settle the federal lawsuit. Gov. James E.
McGreevey has included the $125 million in his proposed budget, but
some lawmakers have balked at the cost.

Davy said that reform plan also will serve as the basis for the
program improvement plan he must submit to the federal government by
August in response to yesterday's report.

Horn said all states that fall short of the federal benchmarks must
submit improvement plans and will be surveyed again two years after
those plans are approved. States that fail to make a "good faith
effort" to improve their child welfare system risk losing federal
funds, he said.

"The goal here is not to take money away from the states," Horn said.
"The goal is to improve the child welfare system."

The federal survey looked at seven measures of whether children are in
safe and stable homes and seven different measures of how well child
welfare agencies perform. It included extensive interviews in the
community and in-depth reviews of 50 randomly selected cases handled
by DYFS offices in Newark, Toms River and Atlantic City.

All states fared poorly on the child welfare tests. New Jersey was one
of 17 states that failed all seven, and no state passed more than two,
according to Susan Lambiase, associate director of Children's Rights.

The federal survey found children under DYFS supervision were left in
"unsafe situations" because caseworkers did not visit often enough and
that DYFS took too long to investigate complaints of abuse. In nine
cases that should have been investigated within 24 hours, delays
"ranged from two days to two months," the report said.

It also found DYFS fell short of federal goals in getting children
into permanent homes; keeping siblings together in foster care;
establishing face-to-face contact between caseworkers and clients;
meeting the educational needs of children; and providing for their
physical and mental health.

On the measures of agency performance, DYFS got passing marks for its
computerized tracking system but fell short on case review, quality
assurance, training, being able to provide an array of services,
responsiveness to the community and recruitment of foster and adoptive
parents.

Overall, Lambiase said, New Jersey's child welfare system "is one of
the worst."

Davy agreed with the survey's finding that many of the problems at
DYFS stem from the heavy work loads its caseworkers carry.

"It is critical that we reduce our caseloads," Davy said. He said he
hopes to announce a plan to do that next week.
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