Review of 500 Case Files of Children in DYFS Custody Reveals

PRESS RELEASE

Expert examining files states: "I have never seen such a disorganized and inept child welfare system placing all children in out-of-home care at high risk of harm."

A review of 500 case records of children in the care of New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) was released today, showing far too many children living in DYFS placements do not have their basic safety, medical, and psychological needs met. An expert team examined the representative sample of 500 case files of children in DYFS out-of-home care as of May 8, 2002, and presented their findings to the parties in the class-action lawsuit Charlie & Nadine H. v. McGreevey in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The report--Falling Into The Abyss: How New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services Fails to Protect Children In Its Care--showed that of children in involuntary DYFS custody:

*One in ten were the victims of substantiated abuse or neglect by their DYFS caregiver
One out of five received no services for documented medical needs
*Half of all children under six who had spent all of their lives in DYFS out-of-home care received none of their immunizations
*78.4% in care over 3 months had gone 90 days without a contact with a caseworker.

Richard J. Gelles, Ph.D., Dean, School of Social Work and Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare, at the University of Pennsylvania, oversaw the case record review and stated:

The DYFS picture is not just bleak; it is one of chaos and tragedy. From the reading of the disorganized and incomplete case files, to the statistical analysis of the status of children in the "care" of DYFS, institutional abuse, neglect, and ineptitude are the dominant themes. I have seen many instances of poor child protective service casework lead to tragic outcomes for individual children. I have never seen such a disorganized and inept child welfare system placing all children in out-of-home care at high risk of harm.

Nearly 25% (120) of the 500 cases selected could not be included in the final analysis because it was simply not possible to locate basic information about a child's stay in DYFS custody in the child's case record, leading Gelles to state: "This is both frightening and an example of the horrific condition of DYFS case files that contributes to the professionally unacceptable level of case practice and protection of children documented by this review."

"This review confirms what we have long believed to be true: New Jersey's child welfare system is one of the worst in the country and its chaos hurts children every day," stated Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children's Rights and a lead attorney in the lawsuit. "Children in DYFS custody are not even receiving basic medical care."

MAJOR FINDINGS [excerpted verbatim]
Children in involuntary DYFS out of home care:

(1) Have a nearly a one in ten chance of being abused or neglected, and are at risk of being placed with criminals or adjudicated abusers or neglectors of children;

One out of five children (19.7%) in out of home care were reported at least once for suspected abuse and neglect at the hands of his or her DYFS caregivers. Of these children, the majority had multiple reports of maltreatment by their caregivers.

Seven percent (7.3%) of children in out of home care were placed in a home where the caregiver had been substantiated by DYFS for previous child maltreatment or where at least one person in the home had a known criminal conviction.

Many reports of suspected abuse and neglect in out of home care were never referred to, or investigated by, the Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit as required.

(2) Are at risk of being sent home to abusive or neglectful homes only to require re-removal and replacement in DYFS out-of-home care.

One in five children (20%) in care had experienced at least one re-entry into DYFS out-of-home care after a failed re-unification.

(3) Do not have all their basic medical or
psychological needs met, and are at risk of communicable disease;

One out of five children whose case files documented a medical need received no related service to address that need.

Half of the children under 6 years old who spent all of their lives in DYFS out-of-home care received none of their immunizations.

One in eight children with a documented psychological health need received no related service to address that need.

(4) Are shuffled through multiple placements while staying in out of home care for more than three years;

The average number of placements children in out-of-home care experienced during their most recent stay in out-of-home care was 2.89, while staying in out-of-home care an average of 39.7 months.

(5) Are rarely seen by their caseworkers, with those children in care the longest receiving the least frequent caseworker contacts.

Seventy-eight percent (78.4%) of children in out-of-home care for more than 90 days had at least one period of more than 90 days without a contact with a caseworker.

Those children in care 36 to 41 months were seen by their case workers, on average, less frequently than every 90 days

"This is stark evidence that DYFS is failing to protect children from harm while in the state's custody," said Eric Thompson, senior attorney at Children's Rights. "It will be presented at trial in support of the plaintiff children's claims that DYFS routinely violates their basic constitutional rights."

Background

Charlie and Nadine H. v. McGreevey is a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in 1999 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by Children's Rights and the New Jersey law firm of Lowenstein, Sandler, charging that the state's child welfare system is poorly managed, overburdened, underfunded and is harming the health and safety of New Jersey's children. The case record review released today is the third in a series that reports on various aspects of the child welfare system to provide evidence of system-wide failures in practice and management. As the case proceeds toward an expected trial this fall, the parties are also discussing the possibility of settlement under the guidance of a mediator.

Lowenstein, Sandler consistently ranks at the top among New Jersey's largest law firms in the New Jersey Law Journal's annual pro bono survey. The firm has played a visible role in cases involving educational equity, civil rights, and political asylum, and has a deep commitment to children's issues.

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.