Georgia Department of Human Services
Division of Family & Children Services

The Problems and Resolutions to Correct

The Georgia Department of Human Services [DHS] has many divisions that are to assist the people of the State of Georgia with different necessities they may need. For instance, there is the Division of Aging Services that caters specifically to the elderly and to report elder abuse. With a total of three divisions and eight offices, this specific department also houses the Division of Family and Children Services [DFCS]. These representatives and workers do what they can by all means necessary when it comes to the care and welfare of children of the state. However, there are times when they fall short of their jobs and the children suffer. Throughout this paper, the reader will come to identify the current issues that the agency is facing, what is currently being done to correct those and recommendations for a brighter future. The funding of afterschool programs, emergency food assistance, the proper investigation of child abuse and neglect, and adoption needs are just a few of the services that DFCS provides to its clients. They are the department that assists and oversees the safety and prosperity of children by offering what it can to parents and guardians to make things just a bit easier as they deem appropriate. For children to become upstanding and productive citizens of society, they must have the relationships with loving adults who offer appropriate shelter and meals as well as an adequate environment to grow and thrive. Yet, some parents are not able or refuse to provide these simple, basic necessities of life. This is when DFCS steps in and takes over. With the overwhelming reports and cases that overload the workers, they are doing what they are able to maintain sufficient order. It is coming to a point where it is not enough and children are slipping through the cracks. The news reports have always highlighted what they felt was wrong with the department. The public has not seen the positive that they do to foster a caring and nurturing environment for their cases. The hardest part to anyone working in or outside the field would be to avoid bringing the work home on an emotional level. What is done behind the closed doors of a household is nothing anyone likes to imagine. Caseworkers must take on things that normal citizens may not agree with or even be able to handle. They are forced to deal with sometimes unruly children and parents and difficult situations that result in painful decisions. That is if there is a staff able to handle it. Many are asking what precisely is going on behind closed doors that the public is not aware of at all. The number of cases is getting to the extreme numbers. From the outside looking in, one can simply come to the conclusion that the cases outweigh the staff. The high turnover of caseworkers is one major issue that needs to be assessed. A series of questions comes to mind when inquiring about what exactly is going on within the agency. The one main concern at the top of the list: are anymore children going to have to perish before something is done?
The number of children who have died while either under the care of or having a prior history with the agency. An internal investigation performed shows that as of April 2013 there had been a total of 152 children deaths (Schneider, 2013). That is 30 more deaths than the previous year. When this was brought to light, it was severely downplayed in order to forego more questions and ridicule from the public. The deaths that are included are those that occur and are reported by law enforcement and hospital personnel who are required to report it. One can only imagine the sob stories that come along with those cases. Hospital nurses and doctors report it to the police who then in turn relay the information to DFCS. The key is to see if there are other children in the home and investigate if there are other problems within the home.
Very little staff to take care of the number of children in the system is a bad combination. The cases they handle come from some of everywhere, but mostly law enforcement who is the first that are called when dealing with a situation involving a child. It cannot be simply said that more workers are needed. That is an obvious statement. Bringing in more workers does necessitate more work being done. The process in which workers are hired should be looked at to see what clarifications can be done as far as job requirements and duties. Currently, there are caseworkers who do their jobs accordingly when they are able. It just does not seem to be enough. They are doing the bare minimum in order to make sure that they avoid any specific ramifications that may result from them doing less than what is necessary. Being a DFCS worker is not a job that should be seeing just the bare minimum when there are lives at stake.
A visit is made to the home to inquire about any other children who are present and may have or are currently experiencing the same treatment as the deceased child. Once the determination has been met and the caseworker makes their claims, one of two things can happen: the children are removed and placed with relatives or emergency foster care or the home is continually monitored and the parents are required to attend classes and check in with their caseworker. This is the ideal plan of action. Still, this is not always the case. It is sad to say that a death has to come out for parents to reach out for help. It’s even worse to say that this neglect has to occur for them to seek help. Every other day we are hearing about another child who has died at the hands of their parents. These cases become heavily analyzed due to the nature and the fact that they include the involvement of a government regulated agency. They are examined closely by the news channels to critique everything possible in order to bring a more watchful eye and place the agency under more scrutiny.
It becomes a serious matter when there is death involved. That is a sad fact, but it remains to be true. No case is ever looked at in detail anymore as more and more abuse is being reported. Workers are hearing the same story day in and day out and it takes their toll. Teachers, coaches and others are doing their part as being mandated reporters for child abuse. The workers should do theirs and fight for the lives of these children. That is the mission of the agency. After it is all said and done, it is to either provide the parent with the proper care of a child or children or to place them somewhere where they are able to get it.
The most recent case is of ten year old Emani Moss. Her charred, atrophied body was only discovered after her father called the police himself stating that she had ‘drunk something’. A search of her name revealed a history that goes back to 2003 with DFCS. The most recent notation on her file was one that was received from her school where she had been hit with a belt. Her injuries were considered to be along the guidelines of normal discipline as the law allows. The main problem here is that Emani could have been saved. She could have been protected. The caseworkers involved did not seem to go above and beyond the call of duty even though they saw the cry for help. It was not just from her but her teachers as well. These same teachers had regular contact with Emani and saw the signs. Reports also show that there were anonymous tips of those calling in reference to her living situation. Coupled with the fact that she at one point and time resided with her grandmother, no one understands how this poor child was not cared for in the manner that she should have been. This brought other deaths into the spotlight that had a similar pattern.
Emani’s case is one that is more than likely seen regularly. The cases are opened because of a complaint, investigated to a degree and then closed if nothing else reappears within a certain amount of time. All jobs are stressful by nature; especially those that deal with children. Caseworkers deal with a variety of issues concerning children from sexual abuse to physical and emotional abuse. They are forced to deal with multiple cases and it can wreak havoc on one’s mental health. A worker brings home work with them no matter how much they would like to leave it at the office. This is another reason why there is a high turnover at DFCS. It only ends up hurting the children because they must wait for the next person to handle their case. By then, it is probably too late.
A typical day for a worker will be reviewing files and making phone calls and then the rest of the day is spent in the field checking on parents and children at school. Meticulous records are to be kept in case of any discrepancies that may come about. For example, if a parent is jailed for the abuse of the child and it has been ongoing, there must be documentation for that. If a child was to be at school when the caseworker, but were unable to be located, that is to be noted. It may seem monotonous, but it is for the protection of the child in case they need to be pulled from the home and placed temporarily in foster care if all other living arrangements have been exhausted. Nevertheless, the records are not kept as need be. That’s even if records are kept at all. A pending case out of Muscogee County speaks of two officials who plead not guilty for finagling the neglect investigation results to meet state mandated targets to avoid reprimanding. Common sense would say that the time they took to deceive and cheat the system they could have actually done their jobs and done them correctly. But that would be too much like right.
It does not seem to be hard work. Maintaining the records with all interactions and notes seems to be the easiest part. Granted, there are hundreds of cases that are out there and there are not enough workers to handle them. Any study can show you that those that enter the human services professional field are not looking to get a massive paycheck. They are wanting and having a desire to help those around them create a healthier environment for them to flourish. Because of this, one would hope that they would do what they can to uphold what they set out to do. There is always going to be something wrong with a particular work environment such as inadequate personnel, unsupportive leadership and supervisors and a workload fit for 12 being handled by one lone worker. Moments where one would need assistance are left in the darkness as there is no one to turn to ask. Like with any other job, overworked workers lead to burned out workers and burned out workers lead to resigned workers. It’s a malicious cycle that is set to continue unless some alterations are done with the quickness. Time, money and appropriate management are needed to handle this load.
The state of Georgia has its own legislation that is to comply with the federal standards set forth to be able to be eligible for government funding to maintain the programs set forth for children as well as other programs. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act sets forth the law that stipulates funds to each of the states for the support of assessment, prosecution and all other duties as it relates to child abuse and neglect. Being just one piece of legislation designed to aid in the transmission of services, there are others that are designed sustain the allocation of funding that is necessary to pay workers and a host of other things. What they should be paid does not always happen. Hard work, dedication, long hours and an assortment of harsh realities does not equate a substantial paycheck after it’s all said and done.
The Children’s Bureau, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for distributes monies to provisions as they deem fit for all child welfare programs as indicated and sanctioned by Federal law. This is something that is set in stone and is altered over the years to include other programs and to sometimes enhance or lessen the funding. The request for money goes from one party to the next as DFCS requests it, the state of Georgia then requests it and the ultimate decision is left to the Children’s Bureau. They are then left with the decision as to whether or not they have the funds available. If they don’t come through as needed, they wonder where it will come from to handle things such as the training and hiring of more workers.
The workload is the concern. There is more money that is needed to bring in more workers and to pay the current ones more money to match their caseload. The training of current and new workers would definitely improve the current services they are supplying at this time. The traditional workplace has concurrent training in order to have employees stay abreast of the changes as it relates to their particular field. The same applies to DFCS and the trends that they see.
Training for new workers involves them being able to see firsthand what they will have to deal with on a regular basis. Of course, this includes hands on training and being out in the field with either a supervisor or a current caseworker or investigator. This would include a mass amount of funds to make sure that training is thorough and precise to provide the best possible person to handle their jobs and their caseload with ease. The goal is to have the best possible resolution for that child to be in a safe environment and for the worker to be properly rewarded for their efforts and devotion. It may be a difficult process along the way which causes some new and old workers to give up and give in. One thing as stated before was maintaining accurate and precise records. This is not an art form, but it does require a specific skill. It is best to notate the most important parts of the case in a log with the accurate date and time. It can be and should be taught to have records in case of an audit. Audits do occur from time to time to make sure that rules and regulations are being followed properly in order to retain funding.
Current caseworkers need continued training as they continue to duties on the job. These are the workers that are going out to the residences and checking on cases that they have developed a relationship with during the course of their work. Sometimes, they may slack at doing the vital parts of their job such as the record keeping as it may seem tedious. They have to be retrained to do this and made aware that it is essential that this is handled in the utmost manner. This is what saves them from a lawsuit. This is what saves them from being reprimanded. The records are what help them sleep better at night. Keeping satisfactory paperwork can also assist the next caseworker should there be one that is to be assigned to the case.
Stressing how much vital records are needed is not enough. It is a major part of what keeps this department together. If certain records are not in order, then someone can say that the entire department is in disarray. That is just the tip of the problems. Improper records could possibly in turn mean improper conduct. What one is supposed to be doing on their job may not be getting done in a timely fashion. Then taxpayers are wasting money on what someone would take and actually enjoy doing.
The lack of funding does not always apply to the training but to the actually seeking of employees. Human resources is responsible for putting out the announcements and recruiting along with screening the employees that they see as being the most likely to fit. But with the specifications and requirements necessary for the job, they could be a bit lax. Making the requirements more strenuous and having more testing in place does cause for more funding handle such a job. Digressing back to the training for new workers, having a new system in place will need an overhaul of the old one. It will need to be tested to see if it is satisfactory enough. All of this crucial to have knowledgeable employees to do their work and do it well.
Supervisors are next in line for training. Yes, they have made their way to being management because of the hard work and the years they put into their job. Not to mention they have the proper education and experience to boot. This does not mean that they know everything there is to know when it comes to handling all cases. Training for what come their way is always a necessity to be prepared for various scenarios. There also needs to be training as it relates to their handling of employees. Even though supervisors have what it takes to be in their positions, they have to know how to handle different personalities as well. Management is held accountable for their employees. If one messes or does something that is inappropriate, they are the first to be questioned. Supervisors are the first ones to be blamed when it comes to the departure of certain employees. Improved training would teach them techniques to handle situations in an effective manner and assist in the retention of important personnel.
It does not appear that there is anything going on within the agency to correct the current issues. This is not to say that they are not working to correct the problems that they are experiencing. The media may not be privy to what the course of action may be. What they are trying to fix right now is their negative image in the media. However, the attention should be more focused on employees and what their concerns are regarding their positions. The problems are not going to go away overnight and the children that could have been helped are no longer here. The focus should be the current cases and what can be done to improve them.
Tom Rawlings, a former state child advocate, has been noted as stating that by looking at certain reports regarding the state’s cases, there was an indication that the appropriate action was not taken regarding their treatment and the process is being ‘revamped’(Schneider, 2013). There is no indication of the revamping process. Some deaths are still under investigation regarding the cause. The new process may bring about new changes as to how these cases are handled and the time manner in which they are opened and/or closed. A new process could bring about longer steps which is more time consuming but well worth the attention. This process could also bring about more issues as the extended time line may create a clash between ongoing cases and the attention those need for such things such as court proceedings.
Recommendations for a complete overhaul of the agency have certainly been discussed. Those recommendations have not been made public as of yet. The most thorough thing to start with is a team of professionals that can go in and take the agency bit by bit to work through each concern that they have. For example, there needs to be a set person or persons