Section 1 Organization, Operations, and Goals

SECTION 1
Organization, Operations, and Goals

THE OFFICE OF THE FAMILY AND CHILDREN OMBUDSMAN (OFCO) was established by the 1996 Legislature to ensure that government agencies respond appropriately to the needs of children in need of state protection, children residing in state care, and children and families under state supervision due to allegations or findings of child abuse or neglect. The office also is intended to promote public awareness about the child protection and welfare system, and to recommend and facilitate broad-based systemic improvements.

This section of OFCO's first annual report describes the organizational structure, general operations, and goals established for the office for the years ahead.

Mission Statement

In October 1997, OFCO adopted a mission statement, which reflects the responsibilities established for the office in its authorizing legislation (RCW 43.06A.010). The mission statement, which reads as follows, was approved by OFCO's Western Washington Advisory Committee and its Central and Eastern Washington Advisory Committee, which meet quarterly to provide policy direction for the office.

Through independent investigation, education and monitoring, the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO) works to ensure that government agencies respond appropriately to the needs of:

Children in need of state protection;

Children residing in state care; and

Families and children under state supervision due to allegations or findings of child abuse or neglect.

OFCO also promotes public awareness about the child protection and welfare system and recommends and facilitates broad-based systemic improvements.

Case Study #1
A complainant called OFCO alleging that two foster children were being endangered by their foster mother. The complainant said the foster mother permitted her boyfriend to use methamphetamine in the girls' presence, allowed the boyfriend to transport the girls in his car while he was intoxicated, and that the children were made to wait in the car outside a tavern while he was inside.
The complainant stated that the caseworker ignored this information and allowed for continued placement of the girls in the foster mother's home. When she contacted the Office of Constituent Relations (OCR) at the Department of Social and Health Services with her concern, she was told that the information had been received by the caseworker and that the placement was continuing.
The complainant also reported new information to OFCO that the foster mother had physically abused one of the girls while visiting in the home of another foster family. Finally, she reported that a different caseworker had removed two different foster children from the home already, and the complainant wondered why two were left in the home.
OFCO interviewed the second caseworker and discovered two other children had in fact been slated for placement in that home, but were never placed there because of the caseworker's suspicions about activity in that home.
As mandated by law, OFCO reported the alleged child abuse to Child Protective Services (CPS), and further advised CPS of all the other information that OFCO had learned. CPS agreed with OFCO that a complete investigation was necessary to ensure the children's safety.
Upon visiting the foster home, CPS discovered bruises on one of the girls in the foster mother's care and immediately removed both children from the home.
The Division of Licensed Resources (DLR) subsequently instituted a license review.
Case Study #2
A 10-year-old boy, who has no parents and is in foster care, was expelled from school for poking other children with a pair of tweezers. When efforts to get him re-enrolled stalled, his DSHS caseworker called OFCO to complain that school personnel were dragging their feet in finding a school with appropriate programs for the boy.
The caseworker said she had found the school district to be unresponsive to the needs of foster children simply because there was no parent to advocate for the child.
OFCO inquired into the matter and learned that several problems were blocking progress: first, there were several miscommunications; second, the school principal would not return the caseworker's calls; and third, the school psychologist was refusing to share test results with administrators or the caseworker because she believed that the tests were illegally administered because the caseworker did not have legal authority to consent to the tests on the boy's behalf.
OFCO provided information to the parties, acted as mediator, and facilitated a dialogue between the Attorney General's Office and the school district's attorney. As a result, the communications were clarified, the test results were validated, and the parties worked together to complete testing for the child (including medical testing).
A review was also conducted of the child's medication schedule, and extra support was provided to his teacher along with weekly tutoring. In short order, an educational plan was implemented in a new school providing an appropriate program for the boy.

Independence

The organizational structure and operating procedures of OFCO are designed to ensure its independence from the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and other state agencies, including the Governor's Office.

OFCO is located organizationally within the Office of the Governor and the director ombudsman reports directly to the Governor. However, OFCO's operations, activities, and records are conducted and maintained independently from the Governor's Office, DSHS, and other state agencies. (For example, this report and others prepared by OFCO are not subject to outside approval prior to their release.) The director ombudsman is appointed to a three-year term, so that she does not serve at the Governor's pleasure as does a typical member of the Governor's staff. The Governor may remove the director ombudsman only for cause. OFCO is located geographically in Tukwila.

Confidentiality

OFCO is designated in statute as a "juvenile justice or care agency" which authorizes (but doesn't require) other agencies, including DSHS and its contracting agencies, the Attorney General's Office, law enforcement agencies, schools, and the courts, to release confidential records to OFCO. Consistent with the provisions of this statute, OFCO and DSHS are developing an interagency agreement in which DSHS agrees to provide OFCO with on-line access to CAMIS (Case and Management Information System) and physical access to confidential case records in the possession or control of the department.

OFCO is required to maintain the confidentiality of all confidential or privileged information that it receives as provided by federal and state law. OFCO is required to treat all matters under investigation, including the identities of service recipients, complainants, and witnesses, as confidential, except so far as disclosures may be necessary to support any recommendations resulting from an investigation. OFCO's investigative records are confidential and exempt from public disclosure requirements.

Staff and Budget

OFCO has five full-time employees and an annual budget of $407,500 General Fund-State. OFCO's staff consists of the director ombudsman, three investigator ombudsmen, and a database administrator. OFCO submitted a 1998 supplemental budget request to fund one full-time support staff, increased travel costs, and one-time costs associated with OFCO's targeted review of the Wenatchee child sex abuse investigations.

Automated Complaint Tracking System

With the assistance of the Office of Financial Management (OFM), OFCO has developed an automated complaint tracking system. This system allows OFCO to track the following:

Complainants (by geographical location and other characteristics).

Subjects of complaints (by person, local office and agency).

Complaint substance (by complained of actions and issues).

Families and children affected by complained of actions (by various characteristics).

When fully developed, the system will also track OFCO complaint responses and the results of its interventions or investigations.

The automated system is designed to enable OFCO to achieve the following objectives:

Target visibility and outreach activities to geographic areas and populations underrepresented among OFCO's complainants.
Target investigative activities on recurrent and/or systemic problems.
Provide the Governor, legislators and agency officials with regular reports on complaint trends and patterns.
Assess the characteristics of families and children affected by complained of actions.
Analyze OFCO's complaint responses.
Assess OFCO's performance.

Complaint Procedure

OFCO processes two types of complaints: (1) requests to intervene in an ongoing matter for the purpose of achieving a particular outcome, and (2) requests to investigate a matter that has already occurred.

General Complaint Intake

To request an OFCO intervention or investigation, complainants must submit a completed complaint form. However, OFCO will accept complaints by telephone or other means when OFCO determines the complaint involves imminent risk of serious harm to a child or family, or if the complainant is unable to complete the form or otherwise requires special accommodation.

OFCO informs complainants that they will be told within 15 working days of OFCO's receipt of their complaint form what, if any, action OFCO will take. Complainants are also advised that unless it is contrary to the best interests of a family or child, they must attempt to resolve their complaint directly with the agency before OFCO will act on it.

Each complaint may refer to only one subject (person, office and/or agency) and one action. Information from each complaint received is entered by an ombudsman into OFCO's automated complaint tracking system. The complained of action and complaint issues are coded consistent with OFCO's action and issues list.

Emergent Intake

When a complainant indicates that a complaint may involve imminent risk of serious harm to a child or family, the complainant is referred immediately to an ombudsman. The ombudsman collects information from the complainant and other sources sufficient to perform a risk assessment. This assessment assists the office in determining whether immediate intervention is necessary. OFCO's assessment is designed to evaluate the likelihood, seriousness and imminence of physical or emotional harm to a child or the child's parents that may result from an agency's alleged act or omission. OFCO's assessment is therefore different from that undertaken by DSHS Child Protective Services (CPS) which utilizes a specialized tool for assessing risk of child abuse and neglect.

If the ombudsman determines the risk to be clearly non-imminent, then he or she advises complainants that they must complete a complaint form and one is immediately sent. If the ombudsman determines the risk to be imminent, potentially imminent, or unclear, then he or she staffs the case with the director ombudsman and together they make a formal risk designation. If the risk designation is moderate or high, then OFCO will intervene immediately for the purpose of preventing or mitigating the harm.

The ombudsman then enters the complaint information into the tracking system and provides a case overview and status report at the next weekly team review meeting.

Non-Emergent Intake

The director ombudsman reviews every incoming complaint form and assigns each to a lead ombudsman. The lead ombudsman enters the complaint information into the tracking system and prepares the complaint for team review on a specified date. If, at any point, the director ombudsman or lead ombudsman determine that the complaint appears to involve risk of imminent harm, it is handled on an emergent basis as described above.

In preparation for the team review, the lead ombudsman conducts a preliminary investigation that may include contacting the complainant and other witnesses, reviewing documents, accessing CAMIS and/or contacting agency personnel. The lead ombudsman also completes a checklist and distributes it among the other ombudsman for review in advance of the team review meeting.

Team Reviews

Team review meetings are held weekly for the purpose of reviewing new complaints and providing updates on matters in which OFCO has intervened. New complaints are presented to the team in these meetings by the lead ombudsman, who also provides a preliminary risk designation, the results of his or her preliminary investigation and a recommendation on how OFCO should respond. After discussing these issues, the team collectively designates the risk level and decides what OFCO's response will be. These reviews are strengthened by the team's diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. When necessary, the team may also consult on an issue or case with outside experts.

OFCO Response

After reviewing a complaint, the team may decide to do one or more of the following:

1. Defer deciding on whether or how to respond pending further inquiry.
2. Intervene to prevent or mitigate possible harm by:

Informally contacting DSHS or another agency to inquire about the alleged act or omission, provide information, express concerns, explore other possible responses by the agency, and/or to advise the agency that OFCO is monitoring the situation.
Helping to mediate a resolution.
Presenting DSHS or another agency with a formal recommendation on how it should proceed in the matter.

3. Accept the request to investigate a matter because it:

Represents a recurrent problem associated with a particular person, office or agency that adversely affects children's safety, well-being and permanence or appropriate family preservation or reunification.
Potentially raises a system-wide issue that adversely affects child safety, well-being or permanence or appropriate family preservation or reunification.

4. Decline to intervene because:

The complained of action doesn't raise a clear risk of harm to a child or family.
OFCO can't achieve the outcome requested by the complainant (e.g., restoration of parental rights).
The issue was resolved during OFCO's review of the complaint.
The complaint is too vague.

5. Decline the request to investigate because the matter doesn't meet the criteria set forth above and/or the requested investigation is not feasible. However, OFCO may elect to investigate the matter in the future if it later appears the matter represents a recurring or system-wide problem.
6. Designate the complaint as non-OFCO because it doesn't involve a:

Child in need of state protection due to risk of abuse or neglect.
Child residing in a state institution or state-operated or -licensed facility.
Family or child under state supervision due to allegations or findings of child abuse or neglect.

In these non-OFCO cases, OFCO attempts to provide the complainant with a referral to the appropriate agency to handle their complaint.

Systemic Investigations

OFCO's systemic investigations are aimed at identifying and addressing underlying causes of recurrent or system-wide problems that adversely affect children and families. Systemic investigations are conducted by ombudsmen and may consist of independent research, surveys, and investigations of specific cases. OFCO's investigations of specific cases generally consist of independent case record reviews and interviews. At the end of a systemic investigation, OFCO develops findings and conclusions. These may be shared with a group of experts and community members convened to assist the office in developing recommendations. When finalized, OFCO's findings, conclusions and recommendations are included in a public report.

In light of OFCO's limited resources, it is not possible to address all of the recurrent or system-wide problems that adversely affect children and families. Accordingly, OFCO is developing criteria that will enable it to target its investigative activities by helping it to prioritize among recurrent or system-wide problems. In developing the investigative criteria, OFCO will seek input from its advisory committees, a children's advisory panel, the legislative children's oversight committee, the Governor's Office, and others.

Results

OFCO determines the results of its actions by tracking whether or not there was a change in the agency's position following an OFCO intervention or systemic investigation. Where there was no change in the agency's position after OFCO intervened, OFCO distinguishes between those in which the agency's action appeared to be appropriate, and those cases in which the agency's action appeared to be consistent with current law/policy, but where the result was problematic.

OFCO Advisory Committees

OFCO's Western Washington and Central and Eastern Washington Advisory Committees are made up of diverse individuals with expertise and/or direct experience in child protection and welfare issues. Committee members attend quarterly meetings for which they receive no state reimbursement for their time or travel expenses. Committee members play several important roles. First, they serve as liaisons between their geographic, racial and ethnic and/or professional communities and OFCO. Through this role, they provide OFCO with ongoing input on community needs, expectations and criteria for success. Second, members serve as informal consultants whom OFCO may call upon for direction on how to approach a specific case or issue and for input in developing recommendations for statutory or administrative changes. Finally, committee members are responsible for helping OFCO develop its yearly vision statement, goals, and strategies.

Vision Statements

In consultation with its advisory committees, OFCO has established vision statements for each of the next two years, reflecting the continuing development of the Office and its role in Washington State. These vision statements form the basis for establishing specific Office goals.

1998 VISION STATEMENT

By December 1998, the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO) will be seen as an effective, accessible and credible organization by diverse communities statewide and by agency officials and state policy makers who respond to OFCO's findings and recommendations.

1999 VISION STATEMENT (DRAFT)

By December 1999, the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO) has demonstrated success in pursuing its mission which has resulted in increased confidence in the performance and accountability of the child protection and welfare system.

Goals for 1998

The following four goals are intended to help OFCO realize its vision statement for 1998. The goals are accompanied by strategies for achieving them.

GOAL #1: Establish internal operations and external activities that support OFCO's commitment to being responsive to clients' needs and to performing its work effectively and efficiently.

Establish the expectation and carefully train staff to be highly attentive and responsive to clients' needs and concerns.
Establish clear policies and procedures for processing complaints, and inform clients on these up-front.
Develop a database that allows the office to track complainants and complaint trends and patterns and that also includes case management capability.
Develop criteria for prioritizing the recurrent and/or systemic issues affecting families and children that OFCO should address.
Require full-time investigative staff to complete a certified investigator training program.
Invite an external ombudsman to review and evaluate OFCO's internal operations.
Solicit continuous client feedback on OFCO's responsiveness and performance.
Maintain advisory committees to provide OFCO with input on community needs, expectations and criteria for success.
Establish a children's advisory panel to include children who are or have been in the foster care system to provide input on their needs, expectations and criteria for success.

GOAL #2: Establish a statewide presence through public education and awareness activities.

Establish regular contact with community leaders and organizations across the state, with special emphasis on face-to-face meetings in central and eastern Washington.
Use advisory committee members to promote awareness of OFCO in their communities.
Use advisory committees help identify and recruit local volunteers to serve on OFCO's speaker's bureau.
Actively seek opportunities to promote OFCO through state and local media.
Ensure that OFCO informational materials are widely available to the general public and thoroughly disseminated among "players" in the system.
Ensure visibility at statewide conferences and other events.

GOAL #3: Establish trust and credibility among diverse communities across the state.

Ensure that OFCO is sensitive to all forms of diversity - race, ethnicity, language, religion, culture, economic status, etc.
Identify communities that are traditionally hard to reach or feel disenfranchised and develop outreach strategies.
Develop strong relationships with Tribal governments.

GOAL #4: Establish regular lines of communication with agency officials and state policy makers and provide them with objective and credible information.

Establish regular meetings with the Governor, top agency officials, and members of the legislative children's oversight committee.