Hearing focuses on child welfare issues

WASHINGTON — Shortcomings in how Clark County cares for abused children were aired before a congressional panel on Tuesday, with the consultant who uncovered major problems telling lawmakers the county refused his offers to help fix the system.

Ed Cotton, testifying before a House subcommittee, was critical of Clark County Family Services, saying the agency hesitated to accept the magnitude of what he found in the child welfare system.

“I’m just concerned that some of their reaction was, ‘Let’s try to make the problem seem less than it is,’ rather than, ‘We’ve got a problem; let’s fix it,’ ” said Cotton, former director of New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services.

Cotton’s review, made public in December, found that Clark County authorities often did not perform thorough investigations of child abuse reports or respond to them in a timely manner. It found caseworker training was virtually nonexistent, and supervision was spotty.

Eight pages of the report dealing with children who might be in danger initially were excised at the request of a Clark County attorney, which sparked further controversy as to whether those children were being checked.

Cotton said he offered to work with Clark County Family Services before the report was made public to help the agency develop a strategy to fix the problems, but his offer was refused.

“I repeatedly asked Clark County staff do you want to do this together, so we can talk about not just what’s in it but where we’re going from here and we know about it and we’re fixing it,” he said. “And I was repeatedly told, ‘That’s a good idea,’ and it never happened.”

In Las Vegas, Tom Morton, director of Clark County Family Services, said the agency has never shied away from the severity of its problems.

As far as Cotton’s offer to help, Morton said, he was unaware of an offer being made.

“I don’t think you’ll find a statement from this agency to say in any way this problem is less serious than it is,” Morton said. “We’ve worked to provide greater transparency.

“We’re making a concerted effort to lay the real picture before the public and let them know how significant the problem is in this agency.”

The hearing focused on child welfare issues nationwide.

Anne Holton, the wife of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, called for more resources for foster care.

Reps. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., attended the hearing of the House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Porter, who invited Cotton to testify, said he has been in contact with Clark County officials who have assured him that they are working to improve Family Services.

“I want to make sure Clark County is given every benefit,” Porter said. “They’ve been assuring me they’re taking all the appropriate steps.”

Congress can crack down on abuse by mandating improvements in state child abuse hot lines, Porter said.

Berkley agreed with federal requirements for hot lines, calling them a “no-brainer.”

She also said the maximum age of foster children should be extended beyond its current limit of 18.

“Eighteen seems awfully young to be on your own, especially if you come from an unstable background,” she said.

Cotton called for general changes in child welfare systems around the country, including improvements in child abuse hot lines.

He said the hot lines are often under-staffed, meaning many calls are abandoned before the caller can report suspected abuse.

He said experts tested Nevada’s hot line response and found that most calls required a 25-minute wait before the caller could make a report. The longest wait was 50 minutes, he said.

Cotton recommended that states require authorities to follow up with an investigation of all calls received by a hot line.

In Nevada, local child services offices can decide not to investigate all abuse reports, he said.

After the report was released, Clark County Family Services rushed to check on children involved in 55 cases that Cotton had red-flagged.

After his testimony, Cotton said the agency might have neglected cases that weren’t mentioned in the review.

He said the 55 cases flagged in the report were randomly selected from around 500 cases involving children determined to be in questionable conditions.

“I’m a little concerned there was such a focus on 55 cases that weren’t all that different from the other 450,” Cotton said.

Morton said Family Services reviewed all cases that Cotton’s report considered and has made sure those children are out of danger.

The county in December completed a checkup on all children the agency had not made face-to-face contact with in 60 days and has reviewed all investigations that had been open more than 45 days, Morton said.

The agency has boosted technology and staff for its child abuse hot line, which allows citizens to report child abuse cases to authorities.

He said the agency plans to have updated procedures and regulations by July 2008.

Morton said some of the agency’s problems stem from staggering workloads for its individual caseworkers.

The Child Welfare League of America recommends foster care workers deal with no more than 15 children at a time, but Clark County foster care workers oversee an average of 39 children each.

“I don’t want to deny the performance issues. Kids are not being seen in a timely way, but the math is the math,” Morton said.