Travesty

Unlike many of our peer organizations, Hillsides does not provide foster family services. We do not have any foster homes associated with Hillsides. When asked why that was the case, my predecessor, John Hitchcock, indicated he was reluctant to provide a foster home service where the quality of care that would be provided in these foster homes could not be guaranteed. He had reason for his reluctance and certainly the recent exposé in the Los Angeles Times points to why we all should be reluctant to entrust vulnerable children to a system that seems woefully inadequate.

The article points to abuses by some providers and certainly does not reflect the excellent and essential service that many of our peers organizations provide through the foster homes that they sponsor. However, it would seem from the article that there are some significant concerns with how many of the foster home agencies operate and are monitored.

More so than ever the children that are being referred to a foster home require a relatively comprehensive array of services. The foster parent must display extraordinary skill and ability to be successful. In addition to providing a safe living environment, foster parents are asked to facilitate therapeutic care that is specifically oriented to the individual needs of the child. It is very demanding, requires a significant level of training and exclusive commitment. Given the extraordinary need for such homes and the increasing neediness of the children being served, it is essential that the selection of foster parents benefit from a rigorous screening process. In addition, foster parents should be afforded all the resources and support needed to adequately and effectively address the needs of the children in their care.

From the details revealed in the Los Angeles Times article this was not the case with the foster parents that were the subject of the exposé. In addition, the organizations themselves did not have the adequate structure or orientation to effectively deliver quality care to these children.

The following measures would better provide for the needs of the children served in foster homes.  First, foster homes should be aligned with a reputable organization that is accredited by a body that has clearly identified standards of operation and practice for foster homes. Second, the same licensing and regulatory requirements that govern institutions providing therapeutic services should apply to all foster homes and be rigorously applied and monitored by Department of Children and Family Services. Third, infractions or violations need to have meaningful consequences and be addressed in a timely fashion. Minimally, these measures should be instituted if not already in place.

Although there will always be a need for good quality foster homes, the ultimate solution is helping families to provide for their own children. Much success has been achieved by identifying within an extended family a relative who can fulfill the parenting responsibilities, if for whatever reason the actual parents are unable to do so. Coupled with a strong community-based support system, most children can be served well, family caregivers can be effective, and the trauma of inadequate care can be avoided. Together with a  couple of other peer organizations, Hillsides has piloted this approach and it has been very effective. Children have been kept safe, improvement is evident, and long-term stability is established.

The challenges are great, but that cannot keep us from doing everything in our power to avoid any recurrence of the travesty that some children in the foster care system have suffered. 

Dream day

Where were you 50 years ago when Martin Luther King, Jr. led that historic march on Washington, D.C. and shared his famous “I Have a Dream” speech? I was getting ready to enter 8^th grade and had no clue how momentous that march was and the impact it would have for civil rights in this country. Much has changed in 50 years and yet the struggle for civil rights continues. Equality is illusive and freedom requires constant vigilance and effort. As much as some dreams have been fulfilled, others are still denied.

On the anniversary of this great speech, many are asking, “What is your dream?” At Hillsides we ask, “What is the dream for ourselves as an organization and for the children, youth, and families we serve?”

Given the most recent article in the Los Angeles Times addressing the crisis in foster care in the county, my dream is that every child will be kept safe and every child along with their family will receive the support they need to be successful.  In a previous blog, I introduced you to a young boy that was admitted to Hillsides from one of the children’s holding centers mentioned in the article. I wonder what his dreams are? What responsibility does the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) have in putting him in the right path to achieve dreams? How are we helping him fulfill them?

The article reported that DCFS has reached a crisis point because of a severe lack of foster homes and other resources for children and youth in their care. A combination of an increased number of vulnerable families, shortsighted attempts to employ best practices, and a bottomline approach has led to this crisis, which is a long time in coming. As a result, there is a severe shortage of qualified foster homes. County social workers are stretched beyond a reasonable capacity. Providers are forced to do more with far less resources than is necessary. This is a disaster that puts children at risk and caregivers alike.

Dreams are dashed in such an overwhelming environment. But just as with the civil rights struggle, exposing the truth and insisting on improvement are required. There is no magic bullet, but the solutions are known. More resources are needed. Better assessments and measurable, achievable treatment plans must be developed as part of the initial intervention with these children. Early intervention that supports the role of family is essential to long-term success and stability. Effective recruitment of qualified foster homes is imperative. Perhaps if we can strive to improve in these areas, every child’s dream is closer to being fulfilled as they traverse the foster care system.

Increased funding is not the only solution; proven and effective interventions are also necessary. However, the care of the most vulnerable children should not be subject to the budget balancing exercises that often seem to drive decisions regarding their care. It is unacceptable and the result is a system that fails its mission to protect and improve the lives of those it serves.

I have a dream that some day soon we will have created communities that safeguard its children, supports its families, and assures the basic rights of all, especially the most vulnerable.  My dream for the young boy in our care is that we will be a resource for him and his family. By doing so, he will dream of great things for himself and be confident enough to pursue them.

Dreams are just fantasies if there is no reason to hope that they will be realized. One hundred years ago this coming month, a courageous woman acted on her dream to provide a safe and secure home for children whose families no longer were able to provide for them. Each day we take up that dream and commit anew to creating a lasting change for all we serve. Dream with us!

Day one

Although I enjoy regular contact with any number of officials at the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), it is rare that I get a direct request for assistance regarding a child being referred to our Residential Treatment Services. But sure enough, there was a plea to give immediate and special consideration for an 11-year-old boy. The child had been in  multiple foster homes and each placement ended with a psychiatric hospitalization and foster parents feeling overwhelmed and tentative. The child’s family was not in a position to receive the child and, therefore, not an immediate resource for him. Having returned from a brief hospitalization, this young boy now sat at the DCFS emergency office with no clear indication of a long-term plan for treatment.

As we reviewed the admissions packet, there was a fair amount of concern for the likelihood of success. The team discussed the case in length and during this time the conversation shifted; slowly each member of the group was able to indicate some hope that we could be effective. So in spite of the odds, we approved the child for admission to the great relief of DCFS.

This is the first time that this young boy would be in a setting like ours and to no one’s surprise he did not react well initially. As promised, I looked in on him soon after he arrived and found four staff members all engaged at trying to settle him down and reassure him that he would be safe. I left the encounter wondering whether we had made the right decision and concerned that perhaps we could not effectively care for him. Periodically, I checked my e-mails to see if there were any incident reports that might indicate an escalation in his behavior and I was prepared to hear that he had been hospitalized again. But as the old saying goes, “No news is good news!”

A few days had pass so I asked about him hoping that all was well.  Aside from his first few hours of anxiously assessing his situation, this young boy had begun to interact with his cottage mates and was allowing staff to engage him. He was happy with his new bedroom, thrilled with the goodies in his welcome bag, and especially excited about getting in the pool. From combative and anxious, he was now engaged and playful.  

I’m sure the euphoria of these first few days will wane soon and that we will confront a number of challenges as we get this young boy on a path to a stable life. I could not help, but feel pleased that we were able to receive this child and begin the process of restoring hope for him.

We are so fortunate to have an extraordinary staff, well equipped to provide the care that will make all the difference in the success for this boy and his family. At the end of the day, this is what Hillsides is all about. A month from now we will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of our founding. Well over 100,000 children have been served in this century, all of them vulnerable and desperate for the kind of care that makes a lasting change.  Follow the blog as I provide you with updates on this newest resident and join with us as we celebrate our centennial on September 15.

Referrals Indicate We are a Provider of Choice

Recently at a Child Welfare League of America Board meeting, a colleague approached me concerning a niece he has and the family’s attempts to secure appropriate treatment for this adolescent girl in Los Angeles. He hoped that we might be of assistance. After an initial assessment, a visit to the campus and authorization by DCFS, a referral for placement in our residentialtreatment program has been made for this young girl, the only glitch is that there is no room.

Whether in our residential program or in our community-based services, we continue to receive more referrals than we can handle. This, of course, is a good indicator that we continue to be a provider of choice, but it is a significant dilemma for children and families that can not really wait for a bed to open up or an available appointment. As we always do in situations like this we attempt to refer these cases to other agencies.

Over the last few months, Hillsides has conducted a planning process and although it is an on-going process, we have agreed upon an organizational strategy for the agency: to maintain and further develop our position as a preferred provider of education and behavioral health services to vulnerable children, youth and their families. In a sense this organizational strategy is an affirmation of what historically Hillsides has attempted to be, a place or, better yet, a resource for all we serve to see their lives improved, hope restored and success assured. Building on this, our strategy is to be clearly identified as a premier organization, sought after by referral agents and families alike to address the needs of very vulnerable children and youth.

Publically stating this strategy helps us to organize our programs, services and indeed all operations to achieve this goal. It is also a way to direct the efforts of our committed staff, Board and volunteers around achievement of this goal. Being bold enough to state our intention to become the area’s premier provider of services  for vulnerable children and youth also invites the kind of scrutiny that will hold us accountable to indeed provide the services that would allow us to claim this statement!

Nothing is good enough for those we serve, they deserve and require only the best and it is our job to do just that for them and, in the process, continue to be sought after as a preferred provider of such desperately needed services.

Stonewalling?

On August 7 on the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors were accused of stonewalling because of their refusal to comply with an investigation by the Bureau of State Audits into the deaths of children in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services within the past four years. There are more than enough good reasons for the Board of Supervisors to be cautious and reluctant to comply with this investigation, but at the end of the day what statement does this make to the families of children who have been placed in the care of DCFS? Even for the dysfunctional family where addiction and disability has threatened the safety of children, the removal of a child from the home is traumatic for all involved. How much more so if those who remove and place the child, posture themselves as beyond scrutiny?

Embedded in the editorial was a reminder of an often forgotten fact: in spite of the challenges and risks that many of DCFS involved families confront, studies indicate that the majority of children in these families do better when they remain within their family system. More often than not a relative can be found to support the child in the midst of turmoil in the home. In so many ways it is a far better to provide families with support and to remove children only as a last resort. I am reminded of this each time I run into one of our eight-year-old residents who inevitably asks me to get him home.

No one is advocating that it is acceptable to risk the safety of a child. For the parents of a child who has been removed from the home presumably because it was not safe, to then find them at risk in an underfunded, poorly monitored and mismanaged foster care system is intolerable. Certainly these families deserve some assurances; more importantly, these children must be assured. Somehow DCFS and the Board of Supervisors need to provide those assurances.

Audits are an everyday experience in the world of publicly funded services. As onerous as they may be, audits offer a level of accountability and provide some transparency. To refer to the Board of Supervisors as intransigent is unfair; they are attempting to balance a number of issues that hopefully will not only safeguard their interests, but more importantly serve the best interests of the children and families in the care of DCFS. The task is daunting and it is easy to point fingers, but the situation is urgent and the risks enormous so their prompt action is required.

“You need to find me a home”

The other day I ran into one of my favorite residents (they are all my favorites!) who asked to speak with me. He is one of several sibling groups we have in residence. He and his sister had been adopted, but after a few years of attempting to salvage the adoption, it failed. They are, once again, available for adoption. Both he and his sister have one message for me every time I see them and that is, "Find me a home."

My day came to a standstill as I heard his plea. He was accompanied by his therapist who encouraged him and commented on the courage he displayed by persistently pursuing his dream of having a home, a family. It is such courage, like his, that we honor each day as we lend our energies and resources to serve these children.

There is urgency in this plea, a desire to be like other kids, to be part of a loving family and community. For this brother and sister, it is not because they are not happy at Hillsides, but it is because they know better. In spite of the tremendous disappointments they have experienced and the challenges they confront, they are still longing for that one person, that family who will accept them and support them for a lifetime.

Like many other agencies, Hillsides has developed a capacity to assist families to be equipped to, once again, receive their children back at home and if necessary to identify other family members to serve as lifelong resources for these children. For those without a family resource, then we partner with other agencies to identify adoptive families.

The obstacles are many: an unnecessarily bureaucratic system, the traumas experienced at the hands of adults, a cycle of failure, learning and emotional challenges. But in spite of the challenges, we must not lose hope, but rather strengthen our commitment to restoring every child to their family or to a permanent home.

Thank you Trish Ploehn

Trish Ploehn, the beleaguered director of the Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services, has been removed from her position. Announced on December 13, the Los Angeles Times website was inundated with vitriolic comments condemning her tenure. Those are cheap shots directed at a public servant who dedicated her career to serving the most vulnerable children and families in the County.

The only thing you can fault Ms. Pleohn for is her decision to take on a position that was recently described as the most thankless job in the United States, let alone Los Angeles County, four years ago. The issue was never her leadership or the policies that she advanced at DCFS, but rather a system that is inherently unmanageable for children and families so much at risk that inevitably they will be harmed.

Clearly, what is needed is to look beyond filling the director position to address the unmanageable nature of the DCFS system. Without an organizational change, whoever becomes the next DCFS director will be doomed to fail; and the children and families served by DCFS can not afford yet another failure!

This interim period is a time to re-examine the DCFS system of care and begin the process of creating an organization that is efficient and effective. The following are suggestions of some things that may be considered in redesigning the system of care.

Make it smaller

The system is too large, too bureaucratic, and too inconsistent to be effective. Size matters and, in this case, smaller is better.

Streamline the system for delivering  services

DCFS should promote and monitor its two principal functions; prevention and protective services. Rather than actually provide services, DCFS should be limited to managing the network of providers, assuring compliance with standards of care. The department should leave the actual provision of services to the providers who have a direct, unencumbered relationship with those served.

Invest in an integrated communications system

Real-time information is absolutely essential to communicate effectively and keep children and families safe. There is no excuse for outdated technology!

Transparency rules

Although client confidentiality must never be sacrificed, all other information about DCFS and providers should be easily accessible to support a client-driven, family-focused and community-oriented system of care. Accountability is essential.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to develop a better organization to serve Los Angeles’ most vulnerable children and families. Let’s not squander it looking for a “savior” or trying to find the “silver bullet.”  Rather, let us embrace this task driven by the desire to truly improve the lives of those we serve.

Family Reunification is Not the Problem

The issue of children deaths while under the care of the Department of Children and Family Services continues to capture our attention with the Los Angeles Times’ article entitled, “Facts, not furor,” published on October 22 and written by Los Angeles County Board Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Michael D. Antonovich. The article provided a call to maintain a perspective on the issue that is not driven by emotion, but rather rooted in a very sobering fact: for more than a decade, about twenty children die each year from abuse and neglect at the hands of their caregivers while in the care of DCFS.

Clearly, the Supervisors feel that this is not acceptable. They shared the information to establish some context and reinforce the position that there is no reason to believe that  DCFS's policy of family reunification has contributed to children deaths. Their leadership on this issue is yet one more indicator of their commitment to vulnerable children and families.

Some would say that it is inevitable that children will die while in the care of DCFS. While that may be true, it is nevertheless unacceptable and points to the need to develop more effective programs to address domestic violence. Addressing the many needs of those served by DCFS is a daunting task. No one policy, program or strategy can do it, but the facts help to determine the policies, priorities and initiatives that need to be put in place to serve the most vulnerable.

As always, the issue is reduced to the availability of resources and the development of effective systems to provide care. As I have stated in previous blog entries, I encourage our County Supervisors and DCFS leadership to address the infrastructure issues that threaten their capacity to be effective. I join my voice along with others who have written to the Los Angeles Times suggesting in addition to immediate measures that must be taken to assure the safety of all children in its care, a thorough examination of the system must be undertaken.

In reviewing the system of care, agencies like Hillsides should be engaged as active partners and allies with DCFS.  We are driven by a mission to serve vulnerable children and all of us are committed to keeping children and their families safe. Providers not only have expertise, they also are able to maintain a more effective and direct relationship with children and families that serves well in the development of a more effective system of care.

Let us not rest until we can eliminate children deaths.

Please feel free to share your views on this issue and forward the blog posting on to family and friends who may be interested in Hillsides and this issue.

Children's Deaths on the Rise

Once again the Los Angeles Times has kept the issue of children deaths while in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services front and center in an article published on Tuesday, October 19, 2010, entitled, “Deaths from abuse and neglect increase among children under L.A. County oversight.” The article seems to suggest that one of the reasons for this rise in deaths has to do with the premature reunification of children with their families after having been removed from them because of abuse and neglect.

The policy of DCFS to keep children and their families together is laudable. All things being equal, children belong with their families. In some instances where parents may be challenged to care appropriately for their children, every attempt is made to find some relative who may become the principal caregiver to lessen the trauma of being removed from the home and their community. More times than not this is a successful practice and leads to wonderful outcomes for the children and the family. At Hillsides, we partner with DCFS and families to develop a plan that reunifies children with their families as soon as possible.

That being said, this goal of restoring children with their families must always be driven by the need to safeguard the well being of the child. No family reunification plan, as laudable as it might be, can risk the safety of any child. Balancing reunification with child safety can be difficult, and although we are often criticized for being too protective of the children in our care, we would prefer to err on the side of caution. For most families one day away from their children is one day too many, and so we are committed to restoring the family, but never at the risk of harming a child.

Vulnerable families need support to be successful. That help is manifested in organizations, communities, caregivers and resources committed to supporting them through a difficult time. Let me suggest that the reason for the rise in deaths among children in the care of DCFS has nothing to do with the policy of reuniting families, but rather, it has to do with an unnecessarily complicated system of care, overworked and demoralized staff and poor utilization of the resources.

As we have done in the past, we continue to encourage our County leaders to examine these three areas and begin the process of developing a new system of care that is appropriately resourced. It can not happen soon enough!

John Hitchcock honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Part of the legacy that I’ve “inherited” at Hillsides is that of advocating for the children and families we serve. John Hitchcock, my predecessor, was an outspoken advocate for these children and worked diligently to establish this as a hallmark for Hillsides. Recently, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Community Human Service Agencies. What follows is the presentation that was made by the organization’s Board President, the Executive Director of Foothills Family Services Helen Morran Wolf. We join with ACHSA in acknowledging John’s great contribution to child welfare. Please join us in congratulating John!

Presentation: ACHSA Lifetime Achievement Award – John Hitchcock
This year ACHSA instituted a new award – The Lifetime Achievement award – designed to recognize a lifetime of work in the areas of social welfare, mental health or probation by one of our members who has made a significant and lasting impact on children, TAY or adults in Los Angeles County. I am delighted to announce that our first Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to John Hitchcock, former Executive Director of Hillsides Home for Children.

Before we give John his award, I want to share with you just a few of the amazing things that John has accomplished in his life’s work at Hillsides.

John was raised by his single mother, whose career in early education with a supportive employer and her circle of friends laid the foundation for John in understanding how to be a compassionate, strong and brave person. While he was in college and working at a summer camp with severely emotionally disturbed boys, John realized that he had discovered his mission in life – to heal these children and help them grow into strong, healthy adults. After getting his masters in social work in 1965 he moved to Pasadena with his wife Ida to become the Assistant Director of Hillsides. For John, “Hillsides was not just a job, but a mission and a ministry.” He strongly believed that Hillsides is a place where “children can find peace and hope, they blossom, find happiness and they prosper.”

John was appalled that in the early 1970s the Department of Children and Family Services would automatically remove a child from the home if the child was found to be abused or neglected, with no attempt to correct the situation at home since there was no funding available for in-home treatment. He felt strongly that parents wanted to do the right thing by their children, but their personal situations prevented them from being successful. 

In 1981 John became the Executive Director of Hillsides. He now felt that in this role he could speak up and be a strong and active voice for children. The following year, through his leadership, Hillsides was able to secure state funding to sponsor a pilot in-home intervention called Family Preservation. The Hillsides program successfully demonstrated that by going into the home and working with parents it was possible to turn the situation around and prevent the need to remove the child from the home.

Many of the elements that John, a visionary, thought so were so essential to the successful treatment of children who were abused or neglected are now incorporated into our current child welfare system:

• Evaluating families and assessing children when they enter the system to ensure they received the services they needed – The MAT program was instituted several years ago, through the advocacy of ACHSA
• Using a team of family members, friends and professionals to determine which program would be best for the child is approach used in Wraparound and other programs
• Providing in-home services to abused children and their families – which we now provide through several programs, including Family Preservation, Wraparound, FSP 

John was always pushing for new developments and improvements to the system – he always wanted what was best for the kids.

Under John’s leadership Hillsides achieved so many milestones:

• Built and on-grounds schools managed by the County
• Opened the Hillsides Education Center
• Was awarded the LEARN grant, which helped establish school-based programs
• Created an Infant Toddler Assessment Center
• Secured a DMH contract in 1990 to support community outreach and later to support day rehabilitation programs
• Established Family Resource Centers
• Constructed and opened the Children’s Resource Center
• Began initiation of RBS with 3 other agencies
• And built lots of new buildings throughout his tenure

When I think of John, and I have worked with him on several projects over the past years, I think of his passion, his advocacy for children and his tenacity. In a fight, he was always someone you wanted on your side. He cared passionately about the children and he was never afraid to let you know that.

 

I remember hearing stories of how he would stop during a tour he was giving to a major donor to listen to the complaint of a child about the food he had just eaten for lunch. John described how the children of Hillsides did not quite understand his exact role at the agency, so they decided he was “The Owner”. Initially he tried to explain his role, but then agreed to let them call him by this title. It really was an accurate description: He did indeed “own” all the work that happened at Hillsides and the difference it made in children’s lives. 

 

John was a passionate advocate who was always fighting for the children and youth that he cared about so much. His retirement was truly the end of an era. We want to thank him for all he contributed to the lives of children and families and to the lives of his colleagues who worked with him to achieve many of the hard-won victories in improving child welfare in Los Angeles County. He is a special and unique individual, whose often gruff exterior hides a warm and passionate heart. 

 

John: You have made a difference in the lives of thousands of children and families over your almost 40 years at Hillsides! You have also made a difference in the lives of the staff and volunteers of Hillsides who believe passionately about the work. You have been an inspiration to me and to all of us as a visionary and a tireless advocate for children! Thank you!!

 

It is my great honor to present ACHSA’s first Lifetime Achievement Award to John Hitchcock. Please join me in showing John our appreciation.

 

Supervisors Call for an Audit of DCFS……..No More Business as Usual

 Once again another child in the care of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has died this time of a suicide at home after a visit from a DCFS assessment worker. This kind of senseless act cries out for some action and indeed the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors have called for an audit of DCFS in order to develop a plan of action to mitigate, if not eliminate, the death of children in their care.

DCFS has been under tremendous pressure because of the number of children’s deaths associated with the department. I know that they have reorganized various functions and increased the number of workers reviewing the most critical cases and yet the deaths continue. A report in the Los Angeles Times on this most recent death addressed the lack of resources available for workers to communicate effectively, making it possible for critical issues to go unattended.

In spite of a more protective approach, many protocols continue to be maintained that do not facilitate a comprehensive, efficient or effective approach to serve the needs of children and families who are more vulnerable than ever. Somehow the system needs to cut through the “red tape” and develop the capacity to do whatever it takes to prevent these unnecessary deaths. Although resources have been shifted incredibly, some of the basic issues to allow for effective, real-time communication go unfunded!

We support the call of the Supervisors to “audit” DCFS and encourage them to look not only at DCFS but the whole system of care that addresses vulnerable children.

In the meantime, vigilance alone will not mitigate the risk of more deaths; only clear priorities, appropriate resource allocation and a more comprehensive approach can keep children and families safe as the audit is conducted.

No-one wants to see a child die and certainly DCFS as an organization is further demoralized with each one. There comes a time when a new path must be developed, and perhaps the death of these children can lead to the development of better system of care.

There is no time to waste for one child’s death is too much!

Child Welfare Strategy Should Go Beyond Protecting to Preventing

Many read with deep concern an article that appeared in Los Angeles Times on June 30 entitled, “Child’s death illustrates L.A. County’s growing problem resolving backlog of abuse cases.” L.A. Times reporter Garrett Therolf reports that 57 days after opening an investigation into the allegations of a child, social workers had yet to determine if Joseph Byrd, 2, was at risk when he was pronounced dead on Saturday, June 26.

According to the article, the family had been investigated five times and of those, three cases were substantiated. In response to such cases, DCFS has taken measures to reinforce its oversight and support for vulnerable children and their families. In an e-mail to child welfare advocates, the Department of Children and Family Service states that they have shifted 396 additional staff within the Department since March, and 500 additional staff within the Department since a year ago, to work on these emergency investigations, bringing the total number of staff currently assigned to Emergency Response investigations to 992. What else can DCFS do ?

Some have suggested that just making more funding available is not the answer and indeed the current fiscal constraints may make adding resources impossible. Some have suggested that greater attempts to prioritize cases may be part of the solution, inevitably sacrificing preventative interventions in favor of greater monitoring.

There are no easy answers, but let me suggest a possible strategy. First of all, vilifying either DCFS or the failure of families is something we must avoid. Given the risks and the limited resources it is imperative that all parties satisfy their respective roles, yield to their respective area of expertise, eliminate duplication and join together as allies of these children and their families.

DCFS has its responsibility to monitor and protect; private social service agencies has its role as experienced and qualified providers of services; and both have the responsibility to partner with families to keep vulnerable children safe. Perhaps, clearly stated expectations and a streamlined service delivery system could go a long way to keep kids safe.

The strategy must go beyond protecting to preventing abuse and neglect. If there are any new resources, they should be designated to supporting families long before a pattern of abuse and neglect takes hold.