DCYF Making Progress, but Work Remains, Sen. DiPalma Says

The state Department of Children, Youth and Families is making progress in the task of implementing a series of recommendations from a Senate task force, according to Sen. Louis P. DiPalma.

But, the senator said, there is still “much more work to be done in order to reach the level of care that each child deserves.”

DiPalma, who chaired the task force, got an update from DCYF officials this week at a joint meeting with the Senate Committees on Finance and Health and Human Services.

Of the 20 recommendations the task force gave the agency, seven have been completed, 11 are in progress and two have had “no progress,” according to officials. Though, Jamia R. McDonalds, chief strategy officer for the executive office of health and human services, said that she was “confident in the improvements and the time tables being instituted by DCYF.”

The recommendations were based on ongoing problems at the agency related to staffing, outdated equipment and a budget shortfall that pegged the agency to run out of its fiscal 2015 money about three months early.

The January task force report found that the agency’s mission to provide care and find proper placement for children with guardianship issues (among other responsibilities) was severely hampered by “a lack of adequate computers, portable devices and current software programs,” according to the report.

The technology gap also meant the agency has struggled to coordinate with the courts and provider agencies, which burns up valuable time.

“To provide coordinated care, Network service providers, DCYF service providers and DCYF staff should have real time, current information regarding children in DCYF care. Given the advances in technology. . .the appropriate parties should be able to access appropriate and necessary information allowable by law and to input child-related data that are relevant to their services.”

High turnover has led to large caseloads to case managers, who end up overwhelmed and unable to assess each child’s needs quickly enough, the report found. A particular assessment that was intended to be administered to all children removed from their homes was only given to one in four children, for example.

Six months later, there is progress, DiPalma said. And he gave the current leadership team at the beleaguered agency a vote of confidence by saying “I think DCYF has the right people in place to bring the level of care up to where it needs to be for our children and families.”

The entire committee meeting can be viewed online on Capitol TV’s website and the task force report can be read here.