Law and Justice Committee
Part 2

II. SAN BENITO COUNTY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

BACKGROUND

The Grand Jury reviewed San Benito County Heath and Human Services Agency, Child Protective Services.

METHOD OF REVIEW

Interviews

Documents:

Child Protective Services Handbook
Welfare and Institutions Code Book
Child Protective Services Policies and Procedures Manual

OBSERVATIONS, FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

The Grand Jury reviewed San Benito County Child Protective Services Agency (CPS) and interviewed most staff. At the time of the review, CPS is inadequately staffed as was evidenced by its high overtime costs. In some instances, it appeared that new and inexperienced workers were being placed in positions requiring a significant level of skill and expertise. Improved training and increased training are essential and would not only increase the level of service provided but also reduce the risk of potential lawsuits and lower overtime expense.

During the Grand Jury's interviews with CPS staff, concern was expressed about becoming personally liable in the event that a child in care was injured or harmed on their watch. The Grand Jury was told that CPS failed to enforce State and/or Federal rules. For example, at times CPS places children taken into custody by law enforcement with relatives, instead of a foster care facility. Before that can be done, the relative is required to undergo a criminal background check to ensure that he/she does not have a record of offenses that might place a child at risk of harm. Placement with the relative cannot take place until the background check is satisfactorily completed. In some instances, when a background check could not immediately be done, the child was placed with the relative anyway, instead of at a shelter. It was reported to the Grand Jury that this was done with the knowledge of supervisory staff and those even higher in the Agency hierarchy. This kind of illegal placement created liability risks for the county.

There was also fear that personal liability would attach to the individual workers if services were provided in contradiction to the Agency's (CPS) specified procedures and in violation of State regulations. This belief has been stated as a cause for leaving CPS.

Understaffing can be attributed, in part, to the high turnover ratio. The high turnover is due, not only to a lower pay rate than that of surrounding counties, but also to "burnout" from the stress associated with the job. Social Workers complained of having to perform too many tasks. This extra work took them away from normal duties and they felt too thinly spread. In larger counties, Social Workers tend to specialize in particular areas of social work. In San Benito County, because of its small size, Social Workers are at times working in areas where they do not possess (or desire to learn) specialized skills.

Many Social Workers stated that there was a tendency to overburden the more efficient, while the less efficient Social Workers got away with less effort. They felt that they were taken advantage of because they were conscientious. There was a belief that the uncomplaining and more efficient Social Workers were putting in a tremendous amount of time and energy with very little to show for their effort.

The Grand Jury found that there is a lack of accountability in CPS. There were complaints that Social Workers either did not know the required procedures or ignored them without consequence. There were reports of a Social Worker being disciplined by a supervisor and having the discipline rescinded by someone higher up. The disciplined worker, it was reported, ignored the chain of command and went to a "higher-up" in the agency for relief and got it. A relaxed management style and a long-standing "open-door" policy in the Agency appeared to undermine supervision. It appears that there was no chain of command and this resulted in no one being accountable for his or her actions. Further, county counsel should have reviewed any disciplinary action before being instituted.

New employees are given a Child Protective Services Handbook and a Welfare and Institutions Codebook. A CPS Policy and Procedures manual is made available, but not issued to each individual employee. There is no procedure in place to determine if employees have read and familiarized themselves with the content of the handbook, codebook and manual.

There is a lack of appropriate "in-house" training. More experienced staff members normally mentor new employees, but there are no formal "field training" programs. A formal program would make both trainers and trainees accountable for their acts or for their failure to act. The Grand Jury was informed that: 1) although there are regularly scheduled staff meetings, many times staff leaves these meetings with unanswered questions, 2) frequently, there is no formal agenda available to staff members prior to the meetings to alert them to topics for discussion, 3) Staff members are not given copies of instructional material, but instead, a copy is passed around to be read and initialed, 4) State mandated forms are not always properly completed. For example, the required "cross reporting" forms sometimes are not sent to law enforcement agencies.

There were reports of the unavailability of cell phones that are needed when a Social Worker is out in the field and requires assistance. There were reports that the vehicles used by the social workers are not always dependable.

The Grand Jury repeatedly heard complaints that the mandated "10 day response" procedure on cases requiring investigation was not always followed. The problem arises from the necessity to enter the cases in a computer system, which is mandated by the State. The time needed to enter all the required information can sometimes take up to four days to accomplish, leaving the caseworker only six days to complete the investigation and file a petition with the court. It appears to be a case where the State regulations require that more time be spent filling out forms or entering information into a database. However, the Social Workers merely have the additional work piled onto an already full workweek. There is a need either to provide support staff to take over the clerical work or to set aside a part of the workweek for office time.

The Grand Jury received reports of cases being "evaluated out" (means "no investigation is required") which should have been investigated. Further, it was reported that new employees were assigned to take initial contact calls without adequate training. They were supplied with a list of generic questions to ask callers, but were not trained to ask specific questions designed to elicit information needed to make a proper referral. The Grand Jury was told that there were instances of employees classifying all calls received as ‘10 day response" calls because they didn’t know what else to do. The Grand Jury was also told that in a number of instances, cases that should have been investigated were not.

In the past, CPS has been able to provide services to a familiar population in an informal manner. Population growth placed a heavy burden on the Agency's resources at a time when government mandates both changed and increased the workload. Additionally, CPS appeared to have suffered a kind of culture shock when new people with different training came into the Agency. The Grand Jury was told that the longer-term workers resisted the imposition of new procedures and a more professional attitude. Management's inability to mediate between these two groups, both having something valuable to offer the Agency, resulted in a breakdown. A talented group of people left CPS. It appears to the Grand Jury, that management learned a hard lesson in the past year and is trying, and in many ways succeeding, in making necessary changes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Grand Jury recommends that:

AFFECTED AGENCIES

San Benito County Board of Supervisors
San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency

RESPONSES REQUIRED