Columnist Sandy Thompson: New child welfare agency needs support

Sandy Thompson

Friday, May 31, 2002 | 5:03 a.m.

JULY 1 COULD BE the beginning of a new era in Clark County. That's when the first phase of a new child welfare agency will be implemented.

The county's Department of Family and Youth Services will be split into a Department of Juvenile Justice Services and a new child welfare agency, which will handle Child Protective Services, foster care and related services.

Whether it will be a more effective approach to serving children in need or just "business as usual" under another name depends on how well the new director, Susan Klein-Rothschild, and her team of 370-plus workers respond to opportunities and challenges.

The goals are laudable: Addressing children's safety first, partnering with children and families in the decision-making process, reunifying children safely with their families whenever possible, reducing trauma to children and families, beginning services and interventions earlier, offering more regional services, eliminating unnecessary out-of-home placements, and limiting redundancy and duplication.

Achieving those goals will take teamwork, energy, time, patience and vision. It's a level Klein-Rothschild believes can be reached.

She has been enthusiastic about the opportunity to create a new system based on "what you think is best" after reviewing what has worked and what hasn't here and in other states. It's familiar territory; Klein-Rothschild worked for several years as a consultant to child welfare agencies in 15 states and was head of Colorado's child welfare services.

The new agency follows a model designed by County Manager Thom Reilly when he was a professor of social work at UNLV. Having the support of a county manager with a depth of knowledge about and sense of the issues and problems can only strengthen the new agency.

A keystone of the new system will be involving youth and families more in the decision-making process. One of the planning team members is a former foster child who had 30 placements, Klein-Rothschild says. There also is a foster teen board. "We want to think about (the system) from the child's perspective," Klein-Rothschild says.

That has been a frequent concern expressed in this column. For example, two weeks ago questions were raised about the case of a 15-year-old in foster care. There was no question that "Jeannie" and her siblings should have been taken from their home because of their mother's drug abuse problems. The children were placed in Child Haven for about three months and then went to foster homes. Relatives and friends said Jeannie should have been placed with the family of a friend with whom she had been residing for two weeks so she could maintain as normal a life as possible and finish out the school year.

Child Protective Services officials say that's not always possible, especially under the requirements of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act. While they could not discuss the specifics of Jeannie's case, they say safety of the child is their first concern and they cannot place a child with a family until after the family goes through the process of becoming foster parents. There are rare exceptions. The judge ordered Jeannie into the state's care and CPS had to comply. Although not familiar with Jeannie's case, Klein-Rothschild says that legally they cannot place a child with a neighbor unless that person is pre-approved for foster care.

More than one worker was involved in Jeannie's case. Klein-Rothschild says a goal of the new system is to have one worker, after the initial investigation is completed, deal with the child throughout the case.

Just about everyone agrees with the goals of the new system. What they don't agree on -- and which have been thorny issues since legislative subcommittee hearings in 1999 -- are pay, longevity benefits and licensing concerns. Under the new system, state workers, who are paid less, are being transferred to the county, which pays workers more. There are disparities in longevity benefits and disagreements over social work licensing.

"These continue to be a challenge," Klein-Rothschild says. "We are working through these. We have an open dialogue and hope some will be resolved over the summer."

The issues should not derail the agency's mission. Its efforts should be supported because this is an opportunity to do things right for the benefit of children and families. It's an opportunity this community can't afford to blow.