Children in dozens of families that were supposed to be under the watch of the state child protection agency went as long as eight months this year without a visit from state caseworkers.
That failure, which took place in Clayton County, led to the firing of the regional supervisor and a written reprimand for the director of the Clayton County office, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The lapse occurred, at least in part, because the county director took workers who were supervising families and reassigned them to investigating new cases. His move came at a time when the Division of Family and Children Services was struggling to reduce a massive backlog of uncompleted investigations.
To some child advocates, that suggests a culture of reactive management, leading to stop-gap solutions that endanger some children in order to protect others.
“You need to see this as a red flag, and make sure they are not robbing Peter to pay Paul or taking other shortcuts in the care of children,” said Tom Rawlings, a child welfare attorney and a former state child advocate.
DFCS spokeswoman Ashley Fielding said a routine state review in September revealed that 79 Clayton families had not been visited monthly as agency rules require. She said DFCS leaders have no indication that other county offices have tackled the investigation backlog by diverting workers from other vital functions.
But the fired regional supervisor, Randy Jenkins, suggested in his comments to the AJC that inadequate resources force front-line managers to make untenable choices. He said he and the Clayton staff “worked countless hours, paid and unpaid, to protect and care” for children and families. And he urged greater efforts “to secure the necessary resources to adequately provide services.”
A rough year
The firing of Jenkins – who oversaw DFCS offices in Clayton, Rockdale and Henry counties for two years – capped a tumultuous year for the state’s child protection agency.
Across the state, reports of suspected abuse or neglect surged by more than half, leaving many offices overwhelmed. Gov. Nathan Deal attributed the increase to the creation of a new, statewide call-in line for reporting incidents that raise concerns of abuse or neglect.
In some regions, inadequate staffing contributed to high caseloads, with some workers having over 100 children under their watch. In many offices, a revolving door of employee turnover robbed offices of experienced staff at a time when demands on the agency were growing.
In June, Deal ousted the DFCS state director, saying the agency wrongly stressed preserving families over keeping kids safe. He ordered the new director, Bobby Cagle to embark on a more aggressive approach.
Weeks later, the AJC reported that more than 3,000 of the state’s investigations into child abuse and neglect – about half the total at the time – had surpassed the mandated 45 days for completion, raising concerns that children were being left in dangerous homes.
Cagle made it clear that reducing the backlog was a priority, ordering that agency investigators work a minimum of eight hours of overtime a week until the backlog was eliminated.
A month later, Deal approved the hiring of 100 new DFCS workers. That was on top of 175 already in the budget. All have been hired.
‘He was negligent’
According to documents and emails obtained by the AJC, the Clayton office’s failure to adequately monitor some families dated from early this year. At that time, Andre Chambers had only recently been appointed director of the county office.
After a routine state review in September revealed the scope of the county’s lapse, DFCS state officials faulted Jenkins both for not rejecting Chambers’ staff reassignment plan and for failing to alert higher-ups that things were amiss in Clayton.
In an October email, Jenkins told a superior that he had learned in August or September that Chambers planned to reassign the two remaining caseworkers from supervising families to investigating new cases. “But I did not realize that there were children/families that had not been seen since April/May,” he wrote.
Jenkins was fired Nov. 21.
“As the regional director, Mr. Jenkins’ responsibilities include ensuring the safety for the children of Region 13 County DFCS. It is being noted that he was negligent in doing so,” said an internal management memo on his dismissal.
Fielding said each county office receives a quarterly analysis in which a sampling of cases is reviewed, which helps spot problems. In this instance, she said, “The system functioned exactly as it should and allowed the agency to address the issues identified.”
‘A danger to children’
The 79 affected families were in DFCS’ family preservation program. Although the agency had determined that the children were victims of abuse or neglect, it deemed they were not in imminent danger and could stay in their homes, with agency oversight. In such cases, DFCS policy states that caseworkers are to visit the child at least once a month.
“If they do not do that, it is a danger to children,” said Ashley Willcott, head of the Office of the Child Advocate.
In its efforts to strengthen families, the agency often mandates that the parents or other caregivers undergo drug rehabilitation, parenting classes and counseling. The children themselves often require emotional counseling and medical attention.
“When no one is ensuring that there is monitoring, you don’t know if the family is receiving services, and nobody lays eyes on the child to make sure they are safe,” Willcott said.
Fielding said DFCS has reconnected with the 79 families affected by the lapse and has not found evidence that any children came to harm during the time when they were not visited. In addition, the Clayton office has received additional staff. Since June, the number of caseworkers has grown from 29 to 41.
‘Lack of confidence’
According to the records obtained by the AJC, other signs of trouble had marked Jenkins’ tenure as regional director.
Emails refer to complaints from top state officials, local staff and attorneys that the Clayton office suffered from a “lack of urgency” and an inability to hold onto staff.
“Concerns were expressed that cases are not being appropriately worked which could end in a negative result,” Colleen Phillips, program director of the Office of Quality Management, said in an email in September.
“It was reported that there was a lack of leadership at the agency and attempts to rectify the solution have not had positive results,” she wrote.
The emails also discuss concerns over Chambers’ management style.
In October Jenkins wrote that “staff shared that they felt they were being treated harshly and only had negative comments about him. I shared this with Andre last Friday and told him that this was the third report I had gotten in two weeks.”
Problems extended to the DFCS office in Rockdale, which was also under Jenkins’ supervision. In another September email, Katherine Herren, head of the DFCS Project Safety Team, commented: “I have a lack of confidence that policy, protection and good judgment are being used in this county.”
A Rockdale juvenile court judge complained that the DFCS staff mishandled some cases before him.
One problem fixed
Fielding said a special team of child protection experts has been dispatched to the Rockdale office to address problems there. This team will mentor local leadership and provide guidance to case managers on investigative and case management practices.
A team will also be sent to the Clayton office.
At the statewide level, progress is occurring, Fielding said. The majority of county DFCS offices have largely eliminated the backlog of investigations into child abuse and neglect. Caseloads across the state are decreasing as more workers come on board.
Half of the DFCS regions are meeting the timeliness goal of completing 95 percent of investigations within the mandated deadline of 45 days, officials said.
Clayton is also showing signs of improvement. In June, 28 percent of caseworkers in Clayton County had more than 50 cases. In November, it was 19 percent.
Meanwhile, the state Human Services Board, which oversees DFCS, has requested that next year’s budget include funding for an additional 278 caseworkers, who would be hired in July, 2015.
Still, child advocates see the agency too often reacting to crisis.
“Let’s stabilize this agency,” said Dee Simms, who served as the state child advocate from 2000 to 2007.
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