Washoe County asking state to end dual system of foster care

Monday, May 29, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

Washoe County also is working to put an end to a system of handing off child-abuse and child-neglect cases to the state after county social workers have worked with families the first three months.

If these children and their families are not made a priority in revamping the state budget, "Its going to be a complete disaster for northern Nevada as well as the rest of Nevada," said Charles McGee, Washoe Family Court judge.

McGee and other county officials are looking for Guinn's continued support for family services centers started by former Gov. Bob Miller in 1997 to assist families with all kinds of problems.

Under the federal Safe Families Act of 1997, a judge must decide a child's future 12 months after being taken away from home.

In addition, a 1999 state law requires that a plan be set whenever a child is in foster care for 14 months of a 20-month period.

That gives parents, especially those with drug addictions, little time to get their acts together before they lose their children, McGee told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Mike Capello, Washoe County social services director, is looking for state support for the county to take over care of the county's neglected or abused children from start to finish.

The exception would be for the most emotionally disturbed children who require special care. They would remain wards of the state.

An interim legislative committee is examining the bifurcation issue and will be following the results of a pilot program in Washoe County closely.

Since November, the county began totally managing a group of children and their families. About 60 children now are involved in the study.

Within two years, Capello said he wants the pilot program expanded as the norm. But financial implications of the changeover are large.

Capello estimates the county's children's services division would grow from 75 employees and a $8 million budget to 136 employees and an $18 million budget.

The state now spends $5.5 million on these children's services in the county.

But with county standards calling for smaller caseloads, higher pay and a bigger foster-care allowance, the cost of transferring these services would rise to $9.8 million.

In all, the state would spend $4.3 million more on these children than it does now. Assuming federal grants could be obtained, Capello said a $2.7 million gap would exist.

But the gap may be not that large in practice, said Stephen Shaw, state children and family services director.

He expects the time children spend in the system to be reduced by a third, resulting in big savings in foster care.

But if this stepped-up effort in caring for children and reuniting families does not occur, Shaw said county judges could create dozens of legal orphans to comply with the new federal deadline on adoptions.