Comptroller's Testimony on Children's Services --------------------------------------------------------------------- REVISED TESTIMONY ON CHILDREN'S SERVICES TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK GENERAL WELFARE COMMITTEE BY COMPTROLLER ALAN G. HEVESI FEBRUARY 26, 1996 Good afternoon, my name is Steven Newman, First Deputy Comptroller, and I will be testifying on behalf of Comptroller Alan Hevesi who could not be here today. I would like to thank Chairman Stephen DiBrienza and the members of the General Welfare Committee for giving us the opportunity to testify at this hearing on the Mayor's creation of an agency to oversee and administer children's services. Every day, a new report of child abuse seems to surface in the press. While the death last November of Elisa Izquierdo raised cries for reform of the Child Welfare Administration, sadly her case was not the last. Last week, we read of the gruesome death of two-year-old Kevin Mikell, beaten to death by his own father. That same week, 11 year-old Bolaji Odebayo was discovered sleeping in a hallway in Brooklyn with a broken wrist and gouges and bruises on his body -- the result of years of abuse by his father. All of these cases were known to child welfare caseworkers. The outcomes could have been very different, but somewhere the system failed these children. The Mayor has taken a positive step by creating the Administration for Children's Services (AFCS). The agency currently organized includes the former Child Welfare Administration (CWA), the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and Head Start -- departments that were formerly part of the Human Resources Administration. We would like to offer our support to newly appointed Commissioner Nicholas Scopetta, towards the goal of helping the City's children. Since 1989, the Comptroller's Office has been recommending that City agencies managing children's issues should be consolidated under one roof to assure improved services and greater efficiency. We wholeheartedly endorse the Mayor's decision to remove children's services from an environment that forces them to compete for HRA's attention and resources. Making the needs of children a top priority is long overdue. In this testimony, I will discuss what we have learned about the issues currently facing AFCS and make some proposals for effective management of the new agency. Though structure is important, more important is the excellence of an agency's employees and the adequacy of its resources. For example, there are many dedicated child welfare caseworkers who everyday face the grim and daunting task of investigating child abuse. Unfortunately, they have been historically underpaid, poorly trained, poorly equipped and utterly demoralized. The result can sometimes be that cases are not properly handled, if they are handled at all. Elisa, Kevin and Bolaji are glaring examples of this condition. Adequate protection of children at risk will not improve by good intentions and reorganization alone. We must assure the competency of employees, both line and supervisory, in this new agency. For example, the Comptroller's Office, along with Councilmember DiBrienza, has been pursuing the issue of competency testing and training for new child abuse caseworker recruits. One thing we learned was that caseworkers have not received the training they need to perform their job. Although State law required caseworkers to take a training course, it didn't require them to pass a test demonstrating whether they had actually learned what they were taught. Last year, our Office revealed that many trainees were getting low scores on their tests after their training at the Satterwhite Academy and still becoming front-line caseworkers, making life and death decisions about children's lives. In fact, many child protective trainees were hired even though they actually failed the test. At the time, CWA responded positively to our revelation. The agency modified its training program and starting in August 1995, trainees were required to pass a competency test as a condition of employment. We are encouraged by this development, but believe a more comprehensive test -- one that is both verbal and written -- is needed. It is also important to note, however, that the system at this time is composed primarily of caseworkers who were hired before today's testing requirements were instituted. We recommend that AFCS test all current caseworkers for competency and institute a retraining program for those who do not pass. We urge that AFCS maintain these standards and add other requirements to assure proficiency in case management. There is a further need for both in-service training during caseworkers' 12-month probationary period and the development of an evaluation mechanism. This evaluation should be used during and at the end of the 12-month period to measure competency. Supportive management is also key to running a productive operation. Front-line caseworkers should be supervised by staff who have obtained their Master's Degree in Social Work, are highly experienced in the field and have successfully completed training at Satterwhite Academy. However, if we expect caseworkers to do a good job, we must provide them with the necessary tools. AFCS should be fully computerized so caseworkers can access accurate and current information about their cases. The current Foster Care Tracking and Claims System is deficient as a data source for tracking children in foster care. In August of 1994, our auditors found that this "official" record had incorrect addresses for 20 percent of the children under CWA's care. Also, there is a lack of detailed information on the majority of children who are the subject of abuse or neglect allegations. AFCS should establish a reliable system that allows a caseworker to see if there have been prior allegations involving a particular family. Details surrounding previous cases of established child abuse should also be readily available. There is no doubt that AFCS should establish stringent guidelines by which it can evaluate the quality of work being done by its staff. However, even the best trained, most experienced caseworker can only be effective on a limited number of cases. Caseloads should be set at levels that enable investigators to do a thorough job in every case. Moreover, AFCS must demand hard work, but in return, it must be adequately funded. We endanger our children when agencies that handle crises do not have sufficient staff, resources and funding. While revamping the foster-care system is imperative, we must not forget the importance of preventing abuse and neglect in the first place. One of the more innovative ideas behind this reorganization is the consolidation of services that dramatically affect children's lives. We wholeheartily support the idea of including the Office of Child Support Enforcement and Head Start under the AFCS umbrella. However, we are troubled by the fact that the Agency for Child Development, the agency that is responsible for day care, will not be included under AFCS's umbrella. There have been efforts to coordinate Head Start and day care because they both provide child care services to the City's economically disadvantaged children. Day care is an agency that is not just for public assistance clients, but is crucial for low-income working families. The separation of day care and Head Start would reinforce the notion of day care as a babysitting program for the poor, instead of viewing both as comprehensive child development programs. It would therefore seem foolhardy to separate these two programs because the City's expenses can only be increased and services would only be diminished. Administrative functions like financial management, contracting, planning and technical assistance will be duplicated. Continuing with the theme of consolidation, we also strongly recommend adding the Department of Youth Services (DYS) to AFCS. Under the current plan, the Community Development Agency (CDA) would absorb DYS. We think that New York City's children would be far better served by AFCS. If DYS were to operate under the aegis of CDA, there is a significant risk that it would get lost in the shuffle. CDA is, above all, a contract administrator whose goals are not focused on serving children. By placing DYS within the AFCS structure, we elevate the need for providing developmentally enhancing services to all of the City's youth. If we want our children to have the best possible start, let's consolidate these services and make one agency accountable. We should focus our energies and resources on preventive programs, tackling the obstacles that many of our children face: the lack of sorely needed child care and the need for programs to prevent cigarette, alcohol and drug abuse. We must seriously address the issues of teen pregnancy and its prevention and ensure the creation of recreational and educational after-school activities. To assist AFSC's mission, an interagency council should be created by AFCS, contract agencies providing services to youth and the Board of Education. This council would not only guide current programs, but could develop strategies to further child development. Furthermore, it is necessary to establish and enforce performance standards and monitoring devices to assure that child protective services, child preventive services, foster care, child care, Head Start, and youth services are run efficiently and effectively. I cannot stress enough that we plan for the long term. Our children should have the opportunity to develop themselves to the fullest in constructive and nurturing environments. Commissioner Scoppetta faces the challenge of cranking the wheels of a very rusty machine. With a great deal of ingenuity and ongoing support from the Administration and the City Council, AFCS can accomplish these goals. As a final note, I would like to mention that although Elisa's Law has only been in effect for two weeks, it's results have been immediate and unprecedented. In the cases of Kevin Mikell and Bolaji Odebayo, we were able to immediately determine what went wrong in the handling of these incidents and how these types of errors and inaction can be prevented in the future. For that, we would like to thank State Senator Roy Goodman for shepherding this bill through the legislature. Let the deaths of Elisa and Kevin spur us not only to debate, but into action. Thank you.