Published: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
State rightly rebuked on foster-care progress
It can't be easy to find safe homes for thousands of abused and neglected children, but it has to be done.
For years, the state Department of Social and Health Services has struggled with its promises to improve foster care. Overburdened case workers. Heartbreaking tragedies. The list goes on. On June 30, a Whatcom County Superior Court judge took an important step toward enforcing much-needed changes.
Judge Charles R. Snyder ruled that Washington foster children must get monthly visits from their case workers, initial health screenings and more contact with siblings starting Sept. 1. DSHS has a month to find and present ways to provide those basic services and a second month to show progress.
It should be noted though that the Legislature has provided the agency with some help -- several million dollars, including funds for hiring about 51 new social workers. If only that were enough.
An oversight panel, created after a successful class-action lawsuit in 2004, knew something was wrong. After years of complaints, the panel's findings were detailed in Snyder's courtoom. The real sore spot is that it took Snyder's condemnation to jump-start the system. In this case, the longer it takes DSHS to comply, the more warranted such a judicial shove tends to be.
If the department is still struggling to comply with the judge's ruling after the September deadline, that will indicate a need for bigger, better and more toothy changes. And while a thorough internal assessment of DSHS practices must be part of the solution, all of the blame doesn't lay on the department's shoulders. Legislators have to prioritize foster-care funding and ways must be found to slow the revolving door of social workers.
The number of youngsters in foster care -- about 10,000 in Washington at any time -- isn't going to change drastically, but the number being bounced from home to home can. Those thousands of kids are only a fraction of the people DSHS has to worry about, but that's no excuse to break their hearts again and again. The court ruling makes sure the department knows that it is not doing enough and is being watched.
In press releases, DSHS argues that its progress is steady. That had better be clear by September.
For years, the state Department of Social and Health Services has struggled with its promises to improve foster care. Overburdened case workers. Heartbreaking tragedies. The list goes on. On June 30, a Whatcom County Superior Court judge took an important step toward enforcing much-needed changes.
Judge Charles R. Snyder ruled that Washington foster children must get monthly visits from their case workers, initial health screenings and more contact with siblings starting Sept. 1. DSHS has a month to find and present ways to provide those basic services and a second month to show progress.
It should be noted though that the Legislature has provided the agency with some help -- several million dollars, including funds for hiring about 51 new social workers. If only that were enough.
An oversight panel, created after a successful class-action lawsuit in 2004, knew something was wrong. After years of complaints, the panel's findings were detailed in Snyder's courtoom. The real sore spot is that it took Snyder's condemnation to jump-start the system. In this case, the longer it takes DSHS to comply, the more warranted such a judicial shove tends to be.
If the department is still struggling to comply with the judge's ruling after the September deadline, that will indicate a need for bigger, better and more toothy changes. And while a thorough internal assessment of DSHS practices must be part of the solution, all of the blame doesn't lay on the department's shoulders. Legislators have to prioritize foster-care funding and ways must be found to slow the revolving door of social workers.
The number of youngsters in foster care -- about 10,000 in Washington at any time -- isn't going to change drastically, but the number being bounced from home to home can. Those thousands of kids are only a fraction of the people DSHS has to worry about, but that's no excuse to break their hearts again and again. The court ruling makes sure the department knows that it is not doing enough and is being watched.
In press releases, DSHS argues that its progress is steady. That had better be clear by September.
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