Agenda - 05-17-1994-X-A - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 The Sub-Committee was not able to evaluate the potential impact on child abuse/neglect since several of these programs were in fact new initiatives (i.e. Smart Start, Carolina Alternatives, Carolina ACCESS, Communities in School) . The Sub-Committee will be reconvened to assess this in FY 1994. The CCPT review of child maltreatment cases has indicated that the Department's response to reports of child abuse and neglect is timely, children are seen promptly, appropriate decisions are being made, and children identified as "abused" and/or "neglected" are receiving services. The State Division of Social Services' Biennial Review of the agency's Child Protective Services (CPS) program (November 1993) concurred with this assessment and Orange County DSS received the highest rating which was "Exemplary" (95.73% compliance with standards) . However, there were significant issues related to maintaining this level of achievement. Most notably is the continual turnover in CPS staff. The Intake and Investigations unit has had vacancies the entire fiscal year. The two treatment units have also experienced several vacancies. Supervisory staff have been providing direct service for uncovered caseloads as well as taking after hours on-call coverage for weeks where no worker was assigned. This has also resulted in placing increased demands on remaining staff to routinely work in excess of 40 hours per week and to perform critical assessments and make decisions in a limited time frame. There is limited follow-up with lower risk families to ensure that they receive services available in the community. It is important to note that in Orange County 56 percent of child abuse/neglect investigations involve child victims under the age of six and 83 percent under the age of twelve. Younger children are often at higher risk of serious harm and require more intensive intervention to assure safety. The CCPT is concerned that many families and children who could benefit from DSS services are not offered services because they have not been determined to be "abusive" or "neglectful". In FY 1992 there were 1044 general child welfare related calls made to DSS. In FY 1993 the number had risen to 1849. During the first six months of this year 1190 calls were received. DSS is not staffed adequately to meet the need identified in many of these referrals. While some of these families can be successfully referred to existing community resources, a significant number need child welfare services which are not currently available in Orange County. Unaddressed family problems can escalate, resulting in serious harm to children and the need for a higher level' of intervention.