Advocates critical of fed OK of child welfare plan

Friday, Feb. 25, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's plan to improve its care of the state's most vulnerable children is weak and should not have been approved by the federal government, leaders of two advocacy groups said this morning.

Donna Coleman, president of the children's Advocacy Alliance in Las Vegas, and William L. Grimm, an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, Calif., each said that many of the terms in the plan are vague and therefore can be satisfied with only minimal effort by the state.

Gov. Kenny Guinn announced Wednesday that Nevada's plan had been approved by the regional office of the federal Administration of Children and Families in San Francisco.

The plan, developed by the state Division of Child and Family Services, establishes specific goals to improve the safety, permanency and well being of children.

The federal agency last year inspected the Nevada system for caring for youngsters involving such things as foster homes, mental health and adoptions. It found Nevada failed in most categories. Nevada had to develop a plan of improvement or it would lose federal funds.

Coleman said Nevada children under the care of the state are moved from home to home instead of bringing the services to the family.

Grimm and Coleman both said they intend to meet with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to get congressional action to impose regulations on the states.

Grimm said the word "Standardizing" policy appears 329 times in the state's plan.

"While standardization is a legitimate goal, standardized policy is unlikely in and of itself to result in substantial improvements in the lives of children and family," Grimm said.

He said the state's document talks about more planning instead of actions. So at the end of two years when it is reviewed again, there will only be another plan, he said.

Coleman, whose advocacy group in Las Vegas includes 15 people, said the report sets some goals but it does not solve the deficiency found in the federal inspection last year.

Chrystal Main, social services system advocate in the state division, said today Coleman is "way off base." The division had to revise its plan four times before receiving federal approval."

Main said the division was confident this would lead to improved care of children.

Jone Bosworth, administrator of the division, told a legislative budget committee that Nevada "was near the bottom in the nation" in the federal assessment of all states last year. All states failed the federal inspection.

But she said improvements are on the way.

The division provides protection for abused children, foster home and adoption services, childcare licensing, mental health treatment for those children in need and operates three state youth reformatories.

The primary focus in the first year of the plan is increased training for social workers to better help families and also to establish a consistent policy in Nevada.

The Guinn budget recommends money to reduce the number of children per social worker from the present 1-25 in Clark and Washoe counties to 1-22. In rural Nevada, the plan is to lower the ratio from 1-28 to 1-19.

Guinn said, "Social workers can't do their jobs well if they are assigned high caseloads that prevent them from visiting children and families in their homes."

Bosworth told the budget committees the national standard is 15 children to one worker.

Grimm said that was the standard but he said few states have achieved that ratio. He also said other state plans submitted to the federal government were weak. But he said the state of Washington produced a plan with concrete recommendations to improve the lives of children.