Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday that Arkansas must hire 200 more caseworkers to ease pressure on overwhelmed employees in the child-welfare division of the Department of Human Services.
After unveiling a report on problems in the Children and Family Services Division, the governor promised to work with the Arkansas Legislature to come up with the money for the new positions -- roughly $8 million.
The study found that the typical Arkansas caseworker juggles 29 cases; the national average is 15. With more foster children than homes to take them, the children are frequently transferred far from their communities.
Meanwhile, the number of foster children is climbing. In the past two months, the number of children in foster care jumped from 3,875 to 4,323, but the state only has about two foster homes for every three children.
The report said DHS has a "frustrated and discouraged workforce" in some areas of the state, which leads to high turnover and more workplace stress.
"That is a strain on the caseworker," Hutchinson told reporters at the state Capitol. "It leads to increased turnover; it leads to bad morale and bad decisions and bad performance. So our objective is to reduce the caseload."
The Republican promised to implement 11 recommendations contained in a report from The Child Welfare Policy & Practice Group, a Montgomery, Ala.-based consulting firm.
Many of the changes, Hutchinson said, could be done at little or no cost to taxpayers, but he said state administrators would have to calculate the cost of expanding mental-health services to foster children and others in the state care network.
Hutchinson requested the study after a state legislator accused the division of failing foster and adoptive children and the families that take them in.
The lawmaker, Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, had "re-homed" his 3- and 5-year-old adoptive daughters to a man who went on to sexually assault one of them.
Harris said the girls had been damaged by previous abuse and he couldn't manage them, and that he placed them with a new family after child-welfare officials refused to take them back.
The head of the consulting firm, Paul Vincent, formerly headed Alabama's social services department and has conducted studies for numerous states.
The shortage of foster homes has led to about 1 out of every 5 children in foster care being put in nonfamily living situations, which is higher than any of Arkansas' neighboring states and the 12th-highest in the country.
John Selig, the director of the Department of Human Services, said a combination of things can be done so more children are placed with families.
Granting provisional approval of family members while they undergo further foster-care training, and expediting state financial assistance would be part of that, he said.
"We always start with ... [trying] to place the children with relatives, but we want to make sure it's a safe place and it's not a situation that's equally as bad," Selig said. "We do have to check the home, we can check it more quickly ... but part of it is working with the courts. There are some judges [who] will give a tougher look to a family before placing [a child] with them."
Once taken into state care, 55 percent of children are moved outside their home counties, which officials said not only causes logistical burdens for caseworkers, but it also takes the children farther from friends and family.
The report states: "When placement resources are limited, placement selection becomes driven largely by bed availability rather than careful matching of child needs to caregiver abilities. Frequent placement changes are traumatic for children already experiencing trauma from removal from their families."
In the first four months of the year, the shortage manifested itself in 22 cases where children taken into care had to stay overnight at a DHS office because a foster home was unavailable.
Hutchinson said the caseworkers shoulder an enormous burden.
"Whenever you hear about having a caseworker taking a child into their custody and not being able to find a home for them, and they [are] faced with the choice of bringing them to their own home, bringing them to the office, of [having to call] different foster parents saying, 'Can you take one more?'" Hutchinson said. "That is a heart-rending judgment on our inadequacy. That touched me."
The report also touched on child fatalities. In fiscal 2011, 23 children died in families in which the Children and Family Services Division had had some previous contact. That number jumped to at least 40 in the past fiscal year, which ended June 30 though the report captured data through June 17.
Hutchinson said that though the figures were alarming, there is no single cause or simple fix for the rising numbers.
"There wasn't any causal impact or any pointed thing that something was done wrong [in the report]. I think it's reflective of a challenge we have in Arkansas in terms of department care, education, as well as a quick response," Hutchinson said. "But that's something I don't have an answer to."
Lack of mental-health care for foster children is most pronounced in rural areas, according to the report.
Hutchinson said it was too early to know how much more assistance is needed or how much it will cost. But additional home-based therapy and professional mental-health services are needed for children, many of whom are coming into state care from traumatic circumstances, he said.
But the study said the child-welfare workers are battling burnout, excessive workloads and restrictive regulations that limit their options.
Vincent noted that the oversight from the agency's central office is often interpreted as "a lack of trust" by field operatives, and it slows decision-making. He recommended that state and local officials cooperate to find new ways to eliminate delays in taking action and in giving caseworkers more flexibility.
Hutchinson said that a greater balance between the "autonomy" of local offices and uniform statewide policies is needed.
Taking up one of Vincent's recommendations, Hutchinson said he would appoint one of his senior aides, Betty Guhman, to coordinate efforts with his office and DHS, as well as officials from the courts and other groups, to improve the state's foster care system.
He also asked Selig to develop ways to better engage the faith-based community and other children's advocates in helping reach the goals of increasing foster care resources and improving care.
Hutchinson, who announced plans for a faith-based conference in August to address foster care, called on Selig to create a panel of stakeholders in foster care to develop ways to further implement the recommendations made by Vincent.
Vincent's report also highlighted that it's not just social workers at DHS, but the agency's attorneys, too, who are taxed by the high workload and stressful work environment.
"DHS attorneys average 96 cases each and have a 47 percent turnover rate. The American Bar Association recommends 60 cases as a standard," the report said. "Many attorneys cover multiple counties ... are also paid less than their attorney ad litem and parent attorney colleagues."
On Thursday, Vincent said that inexperienced attorneys, or overworked ones, can lead to delays in legal proceedings and result in negative outcomes for both children and families.