Counties may control child welfare

Monday, Jan. 29, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

A bipartisan plan backed by Gov. Kenny Guinn would transfer state-run foster care programs to Clark and Washoe counties, a move aimed at improving the lives of abused and neglected children.

If adopted this year by the Legislature, the plan would allow the state's two largest counties to take control of their child welfare systems within the next three years. That means children taken from troubled households by the county would remain in county custody until they can be placed in permanent homes.

"I don't think there will be a problem getting this through the Legislature," Keith Munro, Guinn's general counsel, said. "The problem will be the transition to the counties, and we have to work out the details so as not to hurt the children or put them at risk. We don't see any downside."

Currently a child taken from a home in Clark or Washoe county is transferred to the State Division of Child and Family Services within six months. This two-part system, in which the child is transferred from the county to state-run foster care, is unique in the United States and has been subject to widespread criticism within Nevada's social services community.

Elsewhere in the country the system is run entirely by the state or by counties. In Nevada's 15 rural counties, the entire system is run by the state.

The problems with Clark County's system were first exposed by the Sun in a 1997 investigative series about child welfare services. Because children are being passed from one level of government to another, there are gaps in services and communication among agencies that allow the youngsters to fall through the cracks. They are often passed from one case worker to another like batons.

A special bipartisan legislative committee chaired by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, came up with recommendations to end the systems in Clark and Washoe counties. In Clark alone there are about 1,900 children in state-run foster care.

"Everyone exposed to the bifurcated system said it hurts children," Buckley said. "It's an antiquated dinosaur."

One concern expressed by Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera is whether the county would get saddled with unfunded mandates.

"We support the recommendations, and we certainly anticipate that the budgetary issues will be worked out," Herrera said.

The plan endorsed by Guinn would forward an estimated $20 million in state and federal funds to Clark and Washoe counties over the next two years, as well as existing state funds spent on foster care. In his State of the State address last week, Guinn proposed spending $86 million over the next two years to improve child welfare programs in Nevada, including the new money needed to end the two-level system.

Guinn's proposed budget also would increase the daily reimbursement rates to foster care providers from $13.28 to $19.50 for children up to age 11. For older children, the governor has proposed a rate increase from $16.33 to $22.50.

Guinn said the two-level system is "confusing and bogged down in bureaucracy between the state and the counties."

"I believe the best service to the child is the service closest to the child," he said. "Children who are victims of neglect, abuse or abandonment must not also be victims of bureaucracy. They deserve our devoted attention, not our divided attention."

So as not to disrupt ongoing services, the transfer in foster care authority from the state to the two counties would be a gradual process. Clark County's plans include creation of five community centers to serve families and children. The centers would be staffed with investigators, mental health clinicians, foster care workers and other specialists.

Another issue is the proposed transfer of state case workers to county employment.

"State employees have expressed concerns," Buckley said.

Her committee recommended that no state employees lose their jobs. Buckley, in fact, said the employees would eventually get bigger salaries and benefits from the counties. She said that on average state employees who become county case workers can expect about a $7,000 pay increase within five years.

Steve Shaw, director of state child and family services, said transferring foster care to Clark and Washoe counties will also enable the state to comply with a 1998 federal adoption law that requires children taken out of homes to be placed in permanent settings within 12 months. Under the current system, the state usually has only six months to find a permanent home for the child, which Shaw said is next to impossible.

Because the county would have more time to spend with the child under the proposed new system, Shaw said the chances are greater that a permanent home can be found for the youngster within a year.

State caseloads on average would also drop from 34 children per caseworker to 28, Shaw said.

"It would be the biggest case load drop ever in Nevada," he said.