More criminal checks and other reforms coming to DCF
Governor Charlie Baker met with agency officials to outline system-wide reforms.
Governor Charlie Baker and Department of Children and Families officials on Monday announced system-wide reforms to the agency’s policies, with efforts to support the social workers on the front lines and protect the state’s children.
Baker met with Peter MacKinnon, the president of the union representing the department’s social workers, at the State House Monday morning to discuss policy and procedural changes. These reforms include more criminal background checks, new intake and supervisor policies, and the reestablishment of the DCF Central Regional Office, according to the governor’s office.
“Systemic policy reforms are necessary to support the efforts of our social workers, supervisors and managers who are on the front lines protecting the Commonwealth’s children,’’ Baker said in a statement. “Reducing caseloads, retaining and recruiting social workers and ensuring clear and concise policies for supervision and case management are all necessary to ensuring the agency is able to focus on its primary duty of keeping children safe.’’
Earlier this month, the state’s official Child Advocate said that the agency’s caseworkers are set up “to fail,’’ because of poor management and too many cases per worker. Further reforms are expected from the agency’s management and union leadership in order to accelerate the priorities outlined in the Child Welfare League of America report from last May 2014.
This report is the “blueprint’’ for change within the agency, according to Baker’s office, and includes recommendations like background checks for foster homes, photo-documentation for all cases, and new guidance for home visits.
“For years, social workers and investigators have called for meaningful reform and investment at DCF, but we’ve only seen attempts at quick fixes,’’ MacKinnon said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented collaboration between frontline child protection workers and agency administrators. Working together, we will succeed in doing what has been necessary for so long–making deep, systemic changes.’’
The agency’s intake policy, covering when a report of abuse or neglect is filed through to the investigation and opening of a case, hasn’t been updated in 12 years. Now, the policy will be updated by November 17, 2015, and include a review of the entire household’s prior or current involvement with DCF, according to the governor’s office.
A review of the frequency and type of emergency responses to the home will be required—an issue that gained attention after it was discovered that there were dozens of 911 calls made about an Auburn household where a foster child died. Criminal Offender Record Information checks will soon be required in all DCF cases; they are currently used in approximately 70 percent of cases.
To ease the stress of high caseloads, the department will continue to hire new social workers with the $35.5 million increase provided in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget. Previous budget reductions forced the agency’s central regional office to close, meaning the western office took on more than 50 percent of the state’s caseload. The new office is set to open in Worcester by January 1, 2016.
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