Section 3 - Recommendations and Concerns

SECTION 3
Response to 1997
Recommendations and Concerns

OFCO’s 1997 ANNUAL REPORT set forth five recommendations. These recommendations were based on the office’s investigative work during the first year of operation. The 1997 report also identified five issues of concern, which were to receive further review and possible investigation in 1998. This section sets forth the response to OFCO’s 1997 recommendations and concerns.

1997 Recommendations

Nearly all of the recommendations from 1997 have been responded to favorably by the Children’s Administration, the Washington State Legislature, and the Governor. Four of the five recommendations in 1997 were achievable through changes in administrative policy; one required a change in state law.

Placement Resource Conflict of Interest Policy

1997 RECOMMENDATION #1: The DSHS Children's Administration should adopt a policy that creates a presumption against recommending placement with a person who has a conflict of interest as a result of his or her dual role as a placement resource and a professional involved in the child's life. A conflict of interest should be deemed to exist in situations where the person's dual role may now or in the future place a child's best interests in jeopardy. Whether the presumption against placement should be overcome should be determined solely by the child's best interests. In determining the child's best interest, it would be appropriate for the department to consider the person's willingness to participate in a plan that addresses and sufficiently mitigates the potential harm the conflict may cause. A panel consisting of community professionals and others should be used to assist the department in determining whether a conflict exists and/or the presumption against placement has been overcome.

BASIS: In 1997, OFCO conducted a preliminary review of DSHS’ actions during the 1994-95 Wenatchee child sexual abuse investigations. OFCO found the placement of two girls in the home of the police detective who was investigating their sexual abuse allegations against their parents and others to be detrimental to the girls' best interests. At a minimum, the placement clearly affected perceptions of the girls' credibility with regard to their disclosures of abuse by their parents and, later, by others. OFCO is aware of other conflict-of-interest situations that have arisen with placement resources who are employed by DSHS, with school personnel, and even lawyers and law offices involved in the prosecution or defense of a child's custody or dependency case, or the criminal case of the child's parent.

DSHS Response to 1997 Recommendation #1

The Children’s Administration will develop guidelines for addressing potential conflicts of interest in out-of-home care. The guidelines will be developed as part of a broader process to examine foster care issues. The guidelines will be developed by a work group comprised of Children’s Administration staff and community representatives. The work group will begin work by June 1999. The guidelines will be finalized by early 2000.

Complaint Information

1997 RECOMMENDATION #2: The DSHS Children's Administration should provide parents with whom Child Protective Services comes into contact, and foster children age 12 and older, with concise written information that outlines their rights under the department's complaint policy and their right to contact OFCO. With regard to foster children, the department should consider developing a Child's Guide to Foster Care and/or alternative strategies for advising them on their rights and what they can expect while in foster care. Parents should receive this information at the time of initial contact with Child Protective Services and children should receive it when they enter an out-of-home placement. The department should also begin training caseworkers on the complaint policy. In addition, relatives, community professionals, service providers, and concerned citizens should be advised on how to obtain information about their rights under the department's complaint policy and their right to contact OFCO. This information should be provided by departmental employees whenever they are contacted with a concern or complaint. Consideration should be given to establishing a toll-free number with a recorded message where client or citizen complainants may be referred for information about their rights.

BASIS: DSHS is required by RCW 74.13.045 to develop procedures to assure that clients are informed of the department's complaint-resolution process and how to access it. Moreover, information regarding the complaint resolution process is to be incorporated into training for caseworkers. Despite these requirements, complainants often tell OFCO they do not know how to pursue their complaints with the department. OFCO recently conducted a survey concerning the Children's Administration complaint policy. The survey revealed that complainants are rarely provided with the department's written complaint policy and that, until complainants learned otherwise from entities outside the department, most were unaware they could complain to anyone other than a supervisor. The survey also revealed that caseworkers receive no formal or regular training on the complaint policy.

DSHS Response to 1997 Recommendation #2

Complaint Information: The Children’s Administration has developed a new complaint brochure and "Client’s Rights" poster that describe the department’s internal complaint process, as well as how to contact OFCO. The poster will be displayed in the waiting room of each local office. The brochure will be distributed to local offices with instructions for dissemination to clients.

Child’s Guide to Foster Care: With the assistance of a group of adolescent foster children, the Children’s Administration is developing a brochure for older children in foster care. The adolescent group has requested that the brochure include information on: 1) commonly asked questions; 2) kids’ rights; 3) self-care; and 4) quotes from kids. The brochure is scheduled to be completed by June 1999. Copies of the brochure will be distributed to local offices with instructions for dissemination to children age 12 and older. The brochure will include information on how to contact OFCO.

Guide to Child Protective Services: The Children’s Administration is updating the information in its Child Protective Services brochures for clients, relatives, and foster parents. The administration will be updating this material by June 1999.

DSHS Internet Site: The department’s new brochures will be linked to the Children’s Administration "overview" page so they can be accessed through the Internet.

Toll-Free Complaint Information Number:The Children’s Administration will not establish a toll-free complaint information number at this time, but will wait to see if dissemination of the new complaint brochures is sufficient to inform individuals about the department’s complaint process.

Training: The Children’s Administration will add training on the department’s complaint procedures to the Children’s Administration Academy’s basic training curriculum.

Complaint Tracking and Client Satisfaction

1997 RECOMMENATION #3: The Children's Administration within DSHS should ensure that the Office Constituent Relations (OCR) continues to track the volume and nature of complaints it receives and should use this information as a tool to continuously improve and assure the department's quality of servics. MOoeover, consideration should be given to providing complaint data to the department's Risk Management unit for review.

BASIS: The Children's Administration currently is required by RCW 74.13.045 to compile complaint-resolution data, including the nature of the complaint and the outcome of the process. The department is also required to submit semi-annual reports containing this data to the Legislature. Although the department has produced the required reports, OFCO has found that it has used neither this nor other complaint data to assist in identifying and eliminating the cause of complaints. According to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), tort lawsuits against the Children's Administration have significantly increased in recent years, particularly with respect to wrongful adoption cases, children injured in foster care, and Child Protective Services worker cases (both for illegally taking children from their homes and for failing to remove them from abusive homes.) The AGO believes this increase reflects the tendency toward increased liability generally, plus the effects of several court decisions in the past five years which have specifically increased the scope of the department's liability.

DSHS Response to 1997 Recommendation #3

The Office of Constituent Relations (OCR) will continue to track the complaints it receives. Starting with the first quarter of 1999, OCR will begin providing each regional administrator with a quarterly statewide report that includes the following information: 1) the number and nature of complaints received by OCR; 2) the local offices and program units that are the subject of complaints; 3) how the complaints were resolved; 4) identified concerns or trends.

The Children’s Administration will not share complaint information with the department’s Risk Management unit as recommended by OFCO. The Children’s Administration does not want child welfare policy and practice to be driven by liability concerns. The Children’s Administration and the Attorney General’s Office were required by 1998 legislation to develop statutory proposals for reducing or limiting the state’s increased liability for damages in child welfare cases.¹

1997 RECOMMENDATION #4: Area managers should establish formal or informal mechanisms for monitoring the volume and nature of complaints received by caseworkers and supervisors, and should begin using this information to help identify and eliminate the cause of complaints. Moreover, regular surveys should be conducted at the local office level to assess the satisfaction of clients (parents and children) with the services provided. Local complaint and survey information should be integrated into the department's overall quality improvement and assurance activities.

BASIS: The department's complaint policy states that each region shall submit a monthly statistical report on the number and type of complaints, and the level at which resolution occurred. Through its area manager survey, OFCO found that complaints are rarely tracked in local offices because they object to the increased workload associated with this activity. Moreover, OFCO found that most area managers do not monitor the volume, type, or resolution of complaints that do not reach their level. One area manager stated that, because the department's policy is to work a complaint up the chain of command until it is resolved, he assumes problems have been resolved if they don't reach him. OFCO has also found that the department last conducted a Child Protective Services client survey in 1995. One of the findings in this statewide survey stated that future surveys might be more useful if the feedback was focused at the office level, so that supervisors were provided with "the information they need to make changes and/or appreciate their successes."

DSHS Response to 1997 Recommendation #4

Local Complaint Monitoring:At this time, the Children’s Administration will not require area managers to establish mechanisms for monitoring complaints to local offices as recommended by OFCO. However, the Quality Steering Committee will consider by the end of 1999 whether to initiate a project aimed at developing a new local complaint monitoring procedure. In the meantime, the Assistant Secretary has issued a directive to regional administrators and area managers to ensure that complaints are taken seriously by staff and receive a timely response.

Client Surveys:The Children’s Administration plans to conduct another survey of Child Protective Services clients at some point, but has not yet decided when. The survey will collect data by office. In 1998, the administration convened six focus groups with children age 11 to 17 who were in foster care. Information gathered during these focus groups formed the basis of a report which was issued by the administration in June 1998. Information from these groups was also used to inform recent revisions to the department’s administrative rules that are aimed at providing "normalcy" for children in foster care. Contracted providers of family preservation services (FPS), intensive family preservation services (IFPS), and alternative response system (ARS) services continuously solicit client satisfaction information.

OFCO Shield Law

1997 RECOMMENDATION #5: OFCO investigative records and testimony should be shielded by statute from court subpoena and civil discovery requests.

BASIS: RCW 43.06A.050 provides that OFCO's investigative records are confidential and exempt from public disclosure requirements. However, these provisions may not provide protection against court subpoena and civil discovery requests. OFCO is concerned that investigative records developed as part of its targeted Wenatchee review may become the subject of discovery requests in any of the several pending civil lawsuits against DSHS. Moreover, OFCO's future investigations may involve matters that may also be the subject of pending or future civil litigation against state agencies. OFCO has found that the records of ombudsmen's offices in other states, including Michigan's Office of the Children's Ombudsman, are protected by statute from court subpoena.

Response to 1997 Recommendation #5

The 1998 Legislature unanimously approved legislation that shields most investigation-related information, including the identities of OFCO complainants and witnesses, from civil discovery and judicial and administrative subpoena. Governor Gary Locke signed the legislation into law on April 2, 1998.¹

1997 Issues of Concern

In its 1997 Annual Report, OFCO identified several issues of concern, which were to receive further review and possible investigation in 1998. The following is an update on the status of these concerns.

Children At Risk of Chronic Neglect

1997 CONCERN #1: Child Protective Services often does not respond or intervene sufficiently to protect children who are at risk of chronic neglect and about whose situations its has received multiple referrals from multiple referents. Children who are the victims of chronic neglect often suffer serious long-term effects, including delayed growth, increased illness, attachment problems, and neurological impairments. Chronic neglect also places children at greater risk of injury and death from preventable accidents.

DSHS Response to 1997 Concern #1

The Children’s Administration agrees that the state’s response to chronic neglect needs improvement. The administration has been attempting to identify and implement improvements. For example, in mid-1997, the administration established a task force to modify the Risk Assessment Matrix to ensure that it incorporates the risk factors associated with chronic neglect. The task force also developed tools for identifying and developing service plans for chronic neglect cases. In early 1998, the administration sponsored a statewide conference on chronic neglect. In addition, an issue of the administration’s Practice Digest was devoted to best practices for dealing with chronic neglect cases. Finally, each region is implementing at least one local improvement project on chronic neglect issues. The results will be used to identify necessary changes in statewide policy and practices.

CURRENT STATUS:The Children’s Administration is taking meaningful steps to improve its response to chronic neglect cases. OFCO is especially interested in learning the results of the local improvement projects. Notwithstanding these efforts however, this issue remains of concern to OFCO. For example, one ongoing concern is that Child Protective Services workers sometimes appear to rely too heavily upon the reports of in-home service providers regarding the safety of children at risk of chronic neglect, and close cases prematurely, or without first verifying compliance with services or visiting the child. Because chronic neglect involves serious child safety issues, OFCO will continue to monitor the administration’s efforts in this area. In addition, OFCO investigators are reviewing several Child Protective Services cases involving chronic neglect for the purpose of identifying possible policy and practice issues that may affect child safety.

Children Denied Representation in Legal Dependency Actions

1997 CONCERN #2: Many children who are subject to a legal dependency action (an action to determine whether the child should become a dependent of the state due to alleged caretaker abuse, neglect, abandonment, or inability to care for the child) are represented by neither a guardian ad litem nor an attorney, as required by RCW 13.34.100. Children who are denied representation are left without a voice in court proceedings whose decisions may dramatically affect their lives. Moreover, the court is left to proceed with incomplete information in deciding whether the department's placement, service, treatment, and permanency recommendations are in the child's best interest and/or, if the child is 12 or older, consistent with his or her wishes.

OFCO Response to 1997 Concern #2

In 1998, OFCO conducted an investigation to determine the number of children in legal dependency proceedings who are not represented by a guardian ad litem (GAL). In January 1999, OFCO released the results of this investigation in its Report on Guardian Ad Litem Representation of Children in Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings. (See p. 36.) The report found that approximately one-third of Washington children who are involved in child abuse and neglect proceedings do not have a GAL to represent their best interests. The report contained several recommendations, including a recommendation that the number of GALs be increased to a level that is sufficient to ensure appointment for all children who are involved in child abuse and neglect proceedings. The report’s findings and recommendations were presented to state policy makers and agency officials for consideration.

Confusion Regarding Duty to Report Possible Abuse and Neglect

1997 CONCERN #3: There appears to be confusion among service professionals about their duty to report possible child abuse and neglect under the state's mandatory reporting law, RCW 26.44.030. This confusion has led to the filing of tardy and incomplete reports and, in some cases, had led to the failure to make a required report. The failure to report and the filing of delayed or incomplete reports could seriously undermine the state's efforts to protect children.

DSHS Response to 1997 Concern #3

The Children’s Administration is interested in obtaining more information in this area. The administration does not know the rate of compliance with mandatory reporting laws in Washington State, but notes that the national rate is only about 60 percent. Currently, local DCFS offices provide, within available resources, information on Child Protective Services to the community. A high non-compliance rate should be responded to with a statewide public information campaign. The administration is interested in working with OFCO and community agencies to make improvements in this area.

CURRENT STATUS:In the summer of 1998, OFCO conducted a survey of school districts in Washington State regarding their policies and procedures for school personnel reporting of child abuse and neglect. Through this survey, OFCO found that the policies and procedures of a significant number of the school districts surveyed are inconsistent with the requirements and intent of the state’s mandated reporting law. As a result, OFCO has proposed a recommendation concerning school district policies and procedures. (See p. 19.) Because the issue of service professionals’ compliance with the mandated reporting law continues to be of concern, OFCO will continue working to identify and analyze potential policy, training, and practice issues that may affect compliance with the law.

Non-Compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act

1997 CONCERN #4: Many decisions made by the DSHS Children's Administration involving Native American children and their families appear to be inconsistent with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Through ICWA, Congress intended to end a nationwide history of family and cultural breakdown caused by the unwarranted removal of Native American children from their families and subsequent placement in culturally inappropriate homes. Non-compliance with ICWA may place Native American children at risk of emotional and social problems, deprive children of their treaty rights, and harm Native American families.

DSHS Response to 1997 Concern #4

The Children’s Administration would like to receive more information in support of this concern. The administration has worked closely with the tribes to implement ICWA, and to address those improvement areas identified by the tribes in the state Title IV-B plan and CA 7.01 plan. The administration reviewed all ICWA cases in the Fall of 1997, and each region has taken action to address identified practice issues. For example, some regions have established specialized ICWA units. New staff has received ICWA training; advanced training is being offered in each region through September 1999.

CURRENT STATUS: OFCO applauds the Children’s Administration for providing basic and advanced ICWA training to social workers, and for the other steps recently taken to improve the state’s compliance with ICWA. This issue continues to be of concern to OFCO however, particularly with regard to the placement of Native American children. OFCO will provide the Children’s Administration with additional information as requested, and will monitor and assess the administration’s progress in implementing practice improvements in this area.

Insufficient Training for Foster Parents of Children Who Need Special Care

1997 CONCERN #5: The Children's Administration appears to provide insufficient training for foster parents who care for children with serious behavioral problems and/or special needs. The lack of appropriate training for foster parents who care for these children undermines the state's ability to ensure their safety, health and well being while in foster care.

DSHS Response to 1997 Concern #5

The Children’s Administration agrees that foster parents need additional training to deal with the complex needs and behavioral issues of the children in their care. Specific skill training for foster parents has recently been enhanced. The Division of Licensed Resources (DLR) will continue to assess foster parent training needs and develop training to meet these needs as resources allow.

CURRENT STATUS: Foster parent competency and training is receiving a considerable amount of attention by the Children’s Administration. For example, the administration recently mandated that all licensed foster parents complete basic training, known as SCOPE.³ In addition, the Division of Licensed Resources (DLR) has begun to provide foster parents with: 1) basic and advanced training on fetal alcohol syndrome/effect (FAS/FAE) issues, including a special video that is being made available to Native American foster parents; and 2) training on positive behavior support for children with developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, according to DLR officials and foster parent advocates, the number of DLR trainers is not adequate to meet the current demand for foster parent training. In addition to the DLR training, foster parents may be able to access specialized training that is available in their region. Each region in the state is provided with $30,000 annually for special training projects, which may include topics of particular interest to the foster parents in that region.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, the Children’s Administration is establishing a work group to examine a variety of foster care issues. In addition to developing conflict of interest guidelines, the group will examine different types of foster care, including professional foster care, and exceptional cost issues. Because foster parent competency and training is vital to ensuring the safety, health and well being of children in state care, OFCO will continue to monitor this issue.

¹A proviso to the 1998 supplemental budget for DSHS directed the department and the Attorney General’s Office to jointly make recommendations "to reduce or limit the state’s liability for damages in child welfare cases, including shelter care and dependency proceedings." The recommendations were to be submitted to the Legislature by December 1, 1998. 1998 Laws of Washington, Ch. 454, sec. 202 (17) (uncodified). The department and the Attorney General’s Office developed seven recommendations aimed at clarifying state law to ensure that DSHS "is treated in the same manner as any other potential defendant in a civil case rather than being subjected to the broader, unique liability exposures recently imposed by our appellate courts." Proposals for Reducing or Limiting Liability for Damages in Child Welfare Cases, p. 4.
²Codified at Chapter 43.06A RCW.
³The administration is now considering whether to replace SCOPE with an alternative training model called PRIDE. The PRIDE model is described as "providing a standardized, consistent, structured framework for the competency-based recruitment, preparation and selection of foster parents and adoptive parents."