Officials responsible for Utah's child-protection system are in "fundamental agreement" with a legislative audit critical of the way it handles cases.
"We have an opportunity to improve the child-welfare system," Lynn Samsel, director of the Division of Family Services, told an interim legislative panel Wednesday evening. "But it won't be easy or painless."Samsel said children coming into the system are "more severely damaged" and need more extensive and expensive care.
The audit, which won't be finished for several weeks, found problems with child-abuse investigations, foster care placements and training of both staff and foster parents. Auditors also decried inconsistencies in how policies are carried out and cases reviewed.
Utah is negotiating to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by the National Center for Youth Law against the child-welfare system.
Changes are needed and are being made, said Kerry Steadman, director of the Department of Human Services. "We're about doing it, and we're going to be more about doing it."
New "outside checks" will strengthen out-of-home care, Samsel said. A screening committee that includes neutral third parties will review any decision to remove a child from his home. Samsel also promised "consistent participation" of everyone involved in a case, including parents, foster parents, the child (if he's old enough), the child's legal advocate (called a Guardian Ad Litem), mental health officials and others.
Family Services is also setting up citizen review boards in foster care in three pilot areas: Salt Lake, Price and Ogden.
Samsel said workers will receive more detailed guidance and treatment plans for the youths will be more focused.
Other improvements include a strong statewide foster-parent recruitment effort that emphasizes needs of minority and special-needs children and a revised basic training course for foster parents.
An issue not contained in the audit, but important to Utah children, Samsel said, is a medical and education packet to make sure that youths in the state's care receive medical attention. Samsel said about one-third of the children in state care had not had a comprehensive medical exam. That has been corrected. A management team is being hired to oversee health-care services for children in state custody. And an out-of-home care advisory council has been set up.
It all costs money, he said. "In order to just keep the water level, we need 33 to 36 new positions. To lower the water level, we're recommending 82 (additional) workers" who would mostly work on early-intervention services.
Coming up with new funding could be difficult. The division expects to run a $2.2 million deficit for 1994. They have asked the governor to consider adding $18 million to the current funding level.
But money won't solve everything, Steadman said. "The system is large and complex, and to simply pour money in without changes would be a mistake. We want to try some innovations. We want to try some pilot projects. We need to make sure our policies are sound and are being followed."
Bill Grimm, one of the attorneys who filed the suit, was disappointed with the division's response.
"It seemed distinctly lacking in specifics," he said. "What are the pilot programs? There was nothing about protective services, which was a major part of the study. We'd like specifics on how they're going to stop (existing) problems from occurring."