Foster care abuse and neglect up in Fulton and DeKalb

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Foster children in Fulton and DeKalb counties are being abused and neglected at the highest rate in four years, according to a report released Thursday by federal monitors of these child welfare systems.

The report on the last six months of 2009 also found that the caseloads of state child welfare workers in these state-run county systems "increased substantially" during that period, and that the agency fell short in providing medical and dental care to foster kids.

Federal appointed monitors James Dimas and Sarah Morrison revealed some of the worst performance by the state Division of Family and Children Services since the monitors began reviewing the system.

The pair were appointed by a federal judge to review the performance of the Fulton and DeKalb foster care systems after Georgia settled a lawsuit in 2005 that called for reforms. The lawsuit was filed by the advocacy group Children's Rights Inc.

"This is the worst yet," said Ira Lustbader, associate director of the group. "You've got a real safety problem."

The report found that 25 of the 2,142 children in those foster care systems were abused or neglected while in the care of the state.

"By definition, children in foster care have already experienced some form of maltreatment in the home from which they were removed," the report said. "It is unacceptable that any such child should again experience maltreatment in the foster care setting."

The rate of abuse and neglect, 1.17 percent, is more than three times higher than the national standard, Lustbader said. The target rate is that low because there is little tolerance for such mistreatment of children in the state's care. He also said the rate is considered a "tip of the iceberg" indicator that often points to more abuses that are not reported.

DFCS spokeswoman Dena Smith said: "Fixing a child welfare system is a long-distance run. There are going to be ebbs and flows."

The report pointed to some areas in which the DFCS continued to make progress, including placing children in foster care closer to their families, reducing overcrowding in foster homes and ensuring that foster homes are appropriately licensed.

The monitors noted that numerous abuse and neglect incidents occurred in group homes and institutions, many of which are publicly funded but operated by private firms. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had detailed the monitors' concerns regarding state oversight of these facilities in January.

An AJC investigation in April revealed numerous problems and inadequate oversight of Georgia's growing system of publicly funded but privately operated foster care facilities.

Normer Adams, executive director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children, a lobbying group for private foster homes, said several of the instances do not fit the common definition of abuse or neglect in that they included foster children running away from a facility or minor issues with facilities. He also said the oversight has not been lax.

Lustbader complained that caseloads for at least a third of DFCS caseworkers are above the standard of 12 to 17 cases per worker, with some workers assigned 30 to 40 cases.

The report noted, "This is the state's poorest performance in this area to date."