AG 2005 02 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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fJAN I 8 Ztm MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: John Day, County Man Jim Cook, DSS Direc r 1-25-05 Request to BOC for Child I am writing to ask that you arrange for me to bring to the Board of Commissioners a request for additional staff for the Child Protective Services program at the earliest opportunity. Background Following the 1-2-05 death of a 22. month old child in Cabarrus County who was receiving Child Protective Services, we have undertaken an internal assessment of the events and circumstances leading up to the fatality. We have done this for accountability purposes and to identify measures which can be taken to strengthen our capacity to protect children. To some extent, we will not have the most complete identification 0 f measures t hat might betaken until the s tate fatality review has been completed. These multi-disciplinary reviews are conducted in all cases in which a child dies of suspected abuse or neglect while receiving, or within one year of receiving, Child Protective Services. The state conducts approximately 35 of these each year. The review in this case will not be completed for some weeks. However, the measures identified by our internal assessment I outlined within the attached excerpt from an e- mail of 1-16-04 for involved officials, are being undertaken at this point at the Department. It does not appear from the assessment thus far that. the caseload being experienced by the Department at the time of this fatality had a direct impact on this particular case. However, in a general way, caseloads above the state recommended standard, especially where they persist, impair the capacity of the program to effectively protect children. The standard has validity in practice. The staffing of our CPS program, In both the areas of line staff and of management resources available to the program, is an area of need which should be addressed now. The heavy caseloads we have experienced in recent months have resulted from a 39% increase fromCY03 to CY04 in the number of investigations we must complete, an increase from 24% to 28% in the rate at which abuse or neglect is substantiated (meaning more cases must be provided services), and difficulty we have experienced in securing qualified temporary staff to cover for vacancies. The current increased average caseload has not been, as it has in past occurrences, a transitory condition that we can work our way out of in reasonably short order using overtime work, work plans, and other focused efforts with existing staff. Cabarrus County DSS 1303 South Cannofl Blvd. KannapoHs, North Carolina 28083 Telephone Number: 704-920-1400 FAX Number: 704-920-1401 j:"-+