Week in Review

State Capitol Week in Review
April 24, 2009
LITTLE ROCK – Preventing child abuse and neglect is one of the most complex and sensitive duties of state government.
Case workers must balance the need to protect vulnerable children against the rights of parents. Children who suffer abuse and neglect tend to be bad parents when they grow up, so the cycle is repeated for generations. Breaking that cycle was the purpose of several pieces of legislation passed in the regular session.
With increased funding of about $15.5 million the Division of Children and Family Services will be able to hire an additional 113 employees, which will help lower case loads. Now the average in Arkansas is 29 cases per employee, almost double the recommended case load of 15 per employee suggested in national standards.
There is a state Child Abuse Hotline, where people can report any suspicions of child abuse or neglect. Since 2003, the number of calls to the hotline has increased from 20,000 to 29,000. Officials cite an increase in drug abuse, in particular methamphetamine, as a factor in the growth of abuse and neglect cases.
There is a long list of occupations required under state law to report suspected abuse or neglect of children. They include teachers, counselors, day care workers, physicians, dentists, nurses, clergy, law enforcement officers, social workers, staff at domestic abuse shelters, foster parents and anyone working under contract with the Department of Human Services.
Last year, 6,288 complaints were found to be valid. Those complaints were about the maltreatment of 8,834 children in Arkansas.
In the most serious cases children are taken from their parents and placed in foster homes. There are 3,786 children in foster care in Arkansas at present. According to a Department spokesman, the majority of those cases resulted from severe neglect and not from abuse.
An indication of the complexity of child welfare cases is the number of agencies and organizations that are part of the system. Besides the Division of Child Care, there is the court system. Judges usually appoint an advocate for the children. Law enforcement agencies are often part of the process because they are called to respond to abusive situations. Non-profit organizations provide support, for example, they operate shelters and offer psychiatric counseling. They provide treatment for the parents' drug problems.
Bringing down average case loads is important because the Division of Children and Family Services wants to lower employee turnover. Case workers are on call 24 hours a day and often experience emotional stress.
Many of the children in foster care have special needs, such as learning problems or disabilities.
The Division's staff is overwhelmingly female. Of the total of 953 employees only 108 are men. Almost half the employees, 48 percent, are African-American and 51 percent are white. There are a few employees who don't consider themselves either black or white.
The Division's budget for next year anticipates paying for legal fees, medical check ups and other costs associated with the adoption of 360 children.
Hiring enough staff helps Arkansas qualify for federal funding. A federal review of the Division of Children and Family Services is expected this year.