Report: Fulton, DeKalb DFCS offices improve

The state child welfare offices in Fulton and DeKalb counties have improved their oversight of abused and neglected children in foster care, according to a report by experts chosen by a federal court to monitor the system.

The report credits the state Division of Family and Children Services with increasing the number of face-to-face visits between children and the caseworkers responsible for their well-being, although it did cite other continuing problems.

The report said the agencies were doing a better job of placing children in foster homes that have undergone adequate background checks and safety screenings.

“It’s encouraging that caseworkers are finally visiting children in their foster care placements, and that DFCS appears to be monitoring the placements more carefully,” said Ira Lustbader, associate director of Children’s Rights, the nonprofit that sued the state to improve foster care.

A federal judge appointed two child welfare experts to monitor the systems after a 2005 settlement in a lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights Inc., which asserted that child welfare offices in Fulton and DeKalb, run by the state, failed to protect the safety and well-being of the children in their care.

The report by monitors James Dimas and Sarah Morrison, which covers the first half of 2008, did find problems in several other areas.

The state has failed to provide many foster children with proper health care, including medical, dental and mental health services that DFCS is required to provide, the report said. The agency must also improve its efforts to find permanent homes for children who have been in state care for years, the report said.

Lustbader also said he was concerned that state budget cuts might hurt services for these children.