Child-welfare system needs fixing

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The state Department of Human Services must improve several areas of its child-welfare system or face a minimum $534,567 federal penalty, federal officials told the state earlier this month.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued its final report on the state's child-welfare system and found that it falls short of federal criteria in six of seven outcome areas and five of seven systemic factors, although it noted several strengths in the system.

Federal officials said the state will receive an estimated minimum penalty of $534,567 if it does not correct deficiencies within two years. The state has until Feb. 4 to submit a program-improvement plan. Federal officials will conduct their next review two years after the plan is approved.

"We're certainly up for the challenge," said state Human Services Director Lillian Koller. "We see this as an opportunity. What we want is the same thing that the feds want."

Koller said the child-welfare division has begun to make changes and explore ways to address the problems identified by federal officials.

The review included an analysis of 50 randomly selected cases and interviews with social workers, parents, foster parents, children, judges and others involved in the state's child-welfare system. To fall short in most areas is not that unusual, said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Susan Orr.

"There are states that have done better and there are states that have done worse," she said. "It's not atypical."

The report said the state meets the federal criteria for addressing the educational needs of children in foster care and in-home services cases, responding to the community and maintaining a statewide information system to identify the status, demographic characteristics, location and goals of foster children.

But the review also noted "the timeliness of initiating investigations of reports of child maltreatment was identified as a serious concern" and that DHS officials did not have face-to-face contact with the child victim in a timely matter in 48 percent of the cases reviewed.

The system's two weakest areas are in providing children with permanent and stable living situations and working with families to better help their children, the report said. The state also did not meet federal criteria in maintaining a quality assurance system, training, and retaining and licensing foster and adoptive parents.

Other findings in the report:

• DHS was consistent in providing appropriate services to families to prevent the removal of their children, but does not give adequate attention to potential risk factors in the child's home. Most of those interviewed for the report attributed this and other problems to workers' high caseloads.
• DHS makes efforts to keep children in close proximity to their families and to place siblings together in foster care, but is not consistent in ensuring visitation among siblings who are separated.
• DHS is not consistently effective in meeting children's physical or mental-health needs.

The Child Welfare Services Division has about 450 employees and an annual budget of about $47 million, of which more than half is from the federal government.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.