OHIO FOSTER-CARE COMPUTER, Glitch could 'lose' kids, State promisinga fix but won't halt transition...

FOSTER-CARE COMPUTER
Glitch could 'lose' kids
State promising a fix but won't halt transition
Sunday, August 19, 2007 3:49 AM
By Rita Price
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/disp...1_BV7LFFB.html

A new centralized computer system designed to keep Ohio's abused and
neglected children safer is so full of glitches that child-welfare
advocates worry it could cause caseworkers to lose track of foster children.

The Public Children Services Association of Ohio has asked the state to
stop adding new counties to the system until the problems are fixed.

"There is a big risk," said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of
the association.

Allen said the new system, launched in about half the state's 88
counties so far, left out many foster-care providers who did not have
children in their homes at the time the computer system went online.

When children are subsequently placed in those homes, county agencies
cannot add their cases to the new computer system, Allen said.

In a resolution passed this month, the association's board of trustees
urged the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to delay the
rollout and to remember the missing foster-child crisis that unfolded
five years ago in Florida.

A 5-year-old Miami girl was missing for 15 months before that state's
Department of Children & Families realized she was gone. An
investigation later revealed that the agency had, at least temporarily,
been unable to find 102 children.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recognizes that the new
computer system has problems, Director Helen Jones-Kelley said. But the
state is on a strict timeline and does not want to delay the $93 million
project, which finally began last year after a decade of bungled plans
and missed deadlines.

Jones-Kelley said the state started to enter the missing foster-family
data last week. As they discover problems, counties send the information
to the state, either on paper or electronically, and state workers enter
it into the main system, she said.

Jones-Kelley said the state is current to Aug. 1 with what has been
forwarded. "And we'll work through the weekend."

An electronic fix likely won't happen until after January, when all
counties are supposed to be using the Statewide Automated Child Welfare
Information System. In Franklin County, Children Services Executive
Director Eric Fenner said caseworkers are using backup systems, such as
putting on paper all information that cannot be entered into the system.

"All the children in our care, we know where they are. The problem is,
they are not all in (the computer system)," he said. "It creates an
enormous strain."

Agency directors throughout the state say the system also has led to
glitches and delays in payments to families, and threatens the accuracy
of child-welfare statistics, which must be reported to the federal
government.

When complete, the centralized system is expected to boost safety and
communication by making child-abuse and neglect information available on
one network, officials said.

Tracking abusers and victims across county lines has been difficult for
Ohio's 88 children-services agencies, which operate independently but
are overseen by the state.

The transition is difficult, Jones-Kelley said. "But we will have, in
Ohio, the state-of-the-art child-welfare information system."


For additional health information, visit OhioHealth





CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...