Social services demand action
Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, was justified in raising concerns last week about the processing of child-abuse reports. It is one of many recent concerns about state social services that lawmakers and the Brownback administration need to address.
Ward, the newly elected House minority leader, called for action after the Topeka Capital-Journal obtained an internal e-mail from a family preservation services manager at the Kansas Department for Children and Families. The Sept. 22 e-mail said that the Kansas Protection Report Center was “currently experiencing a backlog in processing new reports of abuse or neglect, due to a severe staffing issue.”
A former employee of a DCF contractor also told the Capital-Journal that the report center had been backed up over the past year. She said she often was put on hold for 10 to 15 minutes, then told to leave a message – and sometimes didn’t receive a call back for days.
Last fall, a top law enforcement representative told lawmakers that the 24-hour hotline was frequently not answered. He also said police officers and sheriff’s deputies have trouble reaching social workers and their supervisors by phone.
DCF denies that there is a backlog, though it acknowledged that employees struggled to keep up with a large increase in calls in September, and that 10 of 47 intake positions are vacant. All total, DCF had 463 staff positions open earlier this month and has an annual turnover rate of 18.9 percent, the Capital-Journal reported.
The report center is just the latest concern about the child-welfare system and other state services.
▪ State auditors reported in July that DCF failed to ensure safety of children in foster care. This followed complaints last year that DCF discriminates against same-sex couples.
▪ National Public Radio reported recently that thousands of Kansans with intellectual and development disabilities are waiting seven years to receive in-home services.
▪ A recent analysis of KanCare determined that the privatized Medicaid program delivered on cost-cutting promises but not on quality of care.
▪ The Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas is calling for major reforms of the state’s overwhelmed mental health system, including an expansion of regional crisis intervention centers.
▪ The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services announced recently it was reducing funding for residential psychiatric care of children.
▪ Despite objections raised last legislative session, state officials recently requested proposals to privatize Osawatomie State Hospital, one of two state-run psychiatric facilities. Osawatomie was decertified last year because of noncompliance with federal regulations.
State officials regularly downplay and dismiss such concerns, including state audits. It’s up to state lawmakers to demand action.
This story was originally published December 11, 2016 at 5:06 AM with the headline "Social services demand action."