Judge Approves New Plan to Improve Child Welfare System in District of Columbia

PRESS RESLEASE

All Parties in Class-Action Lawsuit Support Implementation Plan To Better Protect And Serve Children and Families in District

A federal court judge has approved a new plan to improve the District of Columbia's child welfare system that sets specific target dates for improving outcomes for children and families. All parties in a federal class action lawsuit to reform the system will use the Implementation Plan to work together towards a common goal: protecting the District's most vulnerable children.

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Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the presiding judge in the LaShawn A. v. Williams class action lawsuit, approved the Implementation Plan on Thursday, May 15. The Plan was finalized and submitted to the judge by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the court-appointed monitor in LaShawn, which has responsibility for ongoing assessment of the District's progress in complying with the federal court orders. All parties in the lawsuit-Children's Rights, the national advocacy organization representing the plaintiff children, Olivia Golden, director of the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), and the office of Mayor Anthony A. Williams-participated in the development of the Implementation Plan with the final setting of performance outcomes and target dates done by the Court Monitor.

"The District's child welfare system had been neglected and under funded for such a long time that it has taken years to bring it to a relatively functional level," stated Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children's Rights. "This new plan sets increasing standards that our abused and neglected children now have a right to expect. It is time to finally deliver on the promises of the LaShawn court order, to improve the childhoods of these children."

Judith Meltzer, Deputy Director of the Center for the Study of Social Policy and the Court-appointed Monitor, stated, "The Court and I appreciate the joint effort by plaintiffs and District officials in the development of the Implementation Plan and the common vision and focus of all parties on a road map for improving results for children and families. I am optimistic that, with the continued support and hard work of the Mayor, all of the staff at the Child and Family Services Agency, other involved District agencies, the new Family Court and the Council of the District of Columbia, the outcomes in the Plan can be achieved between now and 2006."

The Implementation Plan, an enforceable order of the federal Court under the LaShawn decree, identifies specific performance outcomes and benchmarks, the steps and tasks necessary to achieve compliance, timelines for task accomplishment and the resources (including staff, personnel, contracts and other resources) required for implementation. Ambitious target dates between now and December, 2006 are set for District performance across the spectrum of child welfare practices and services. Among the most important are:

*Continued improvement in timeliness and quality of investigations child abuse and neglect. The plan requires that high quality investigations be initiated promptly (60% initiated within 48 hours by June 30, 75% within 48 hours by December, 2003) and completed within 30 days of a call to the Hotline.
*Increased visits by social workers to children in placement and to families with children at home with current child protective services cases. The Plan requires rapid improvement in CFSA compliance with visitation by social workers.
*Wider availability of community-based supports to prevent children and families from entering child welfare system. The Plan requires a bi-annual needs assessment, the first due by December, 2003, leading to more accessible, available and effective services and supports for children, families and foster and adoptive caregivers.
*Development of expanded range of high quality family placement options in the District to continue progress to reduce numbers of children cared for in group settings. (Plan requires District to end any overnight placement in its in-house Intake Center by June, 2003 and have fewer than 50 children under age 12 in congregate settings by December 31, 2003.)

The Implementation Plan requires steady and measurable improvement in key infrastructure areas, including:

*Aggressive hiring of social workers, leading to rapidly declining caseloads for all workers. (Caseload of each worker providing services to children to be no more than 27 by September 30, 2003, 20 by June 30, 2004, and 17 by September, 2004.) To meet requirement, District must recruit, hire, train and retain estimated 45 new social workers and supervisors by September, 2003 and continue to recruit/retain workers.
*Implementation of high quality training program for CFSA staff and private agency workers geared to improving practice skills and achieving defined practice competencies.
*Revamping contract policies and procedures to establish clear and enforceable expectations for performance by private agencies. (District will release new RFPS by September 30, 2003 and over next three years, make contracts and monitoring systems linked to clearly articulated performance measures and measurable outcomes.)
*Full implementation of new licensing standards for foster homes, group homes and independent living facilities, and consistent and effective enforcement of standards. (CFSA will add 20 staff to the licensing and monitoring functions by September 2003.)
*Revamping Agency's administrative case review system to provide consistent and meaningful review of case progress and achievement of permanency goals. (Plan requires rapid improvement, leading to full compliance by December 31, 2004.)
*Completion of work on CFSA's automated management information system (FACES) for access to timely, accurate and complete data on children and families it serves.

Children's Rights works throughout the United States in partnership with national and local experts, advocates and government officials to document the needs of children in the care of child welfare systems. Children's Rights helps develop realistic solutions and, where necessary, uses the power of litigation to ensure that reform takes place.