Home visits key to preventing child abuse

An article appeared earlier this month on the My San Antonio page.

Home visits key to preventing child abuse

While you would think this should fall under the “Dah” column you must first realize this is not part of the regular CPS program. This program falls under “Prevention and Early Intervention.” A program that was supposed to have moved out from under CPS to alongside when the “Flexible Response System of Service Delivery” philosophy was introduced way back in 1997. Something that NEVER happened.

You see, while Texas’ CPS system appears to be one of the best among the states; that is only on paper. DFPS is not operated the way their handbook indicates it was designed. The combination of huge turnovers in personnel and the lack of accountability has resulted in thousands of Texas children being over protected while thousands more are unprotected. The agency has lost and continues to lack a solid knowledge base of what it actually takes to protect children. The only way that will be corrected will be get them back into the handbook and relearn the basics. They must stop using the unwritten “Best Case Practices” their inexperienced supervisors are throwing at them. Our new caseworkers are not being properly trained and our Texas children are paying for it.

For example, let’s look at Investigations. The system was designed around their conducting “Intake Assessments” not actual investigations. After the initial contact, staffing with “Safety Services” is to take place the next day and no later than 5 days into the case. Then it is supposed to be a coordinated team effort between the FBSS and Investigations to determine the overall safety of the family, where FBSS insures the home is safe while Investigations takes care of things outside the home. Investigations is supposed to be wrapped up no later than 60 days then they are to move on to another case. This is the reason Investigation caseloads are spiraling out of control.

Look at the Tamryn Klapheke case out of Abilene in August 2012. The investigator closed the case after 11 months with no indication that FBSS was ever involved. While it is part of a FBSS caseworker’s job to check on a child at least once every 30 days, it is not the job of investigations. This child was not checked on over that extended period of time and it cost her life. Had the investigator followed the handbook, Tamryn may have been still alive today.

While the program in this article sounds good, it is currently only offered in the following counties: Cherokee County, Dallas County, Ector County, Gregg County, Nueces County, Potter County, and the lower Rio Grande Valley including Hidalgo and Willacy counties. So it is not readily available to all Texas families.

Then you have to deal with the fear factor. Texas families do not trust CPS. Very few are going to be willing to participate in programs that are a child process of CPS. Family services MUST be made CPS’ sibling. Let’s start using the system the way it was designed and not the way caseworkers want it to work. TEXAS WAKE UP.