Panel: Put kids before families

Urges major changes in child protection

Thursday, July 16, 1998

By Barbara Little

Intelligencer Journal Staff; Intelligencer Journal

A Lancaster County panel that reviewed child abuse and neglect cases here issued a report Wednesday calling for legislation at the state and federal levels that puts the safety of children before the sanctity of the family.

The 22-member panel was formed by the Lancaster County Commissioners in September 1997 in response to a state review of the death of 16-month-old Maxwell Fisher, who was killed in Reading by his mother's live-in boyfriend. The child died just four months after his mother moved to Reading from Lancaster. After reviewing 91 cases handled by the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Service Agency, the panel made several recommendations at the state and federal level, the county level and the agency level.

In a report presented to the county commissioners Wednesday morning, the panel also recommended that legislation be enacted at the state and federal levels that promotes collaboration among agencies charged with the protection of children rather than competition. Commissioner Ron Ford, who chaired the panel, said he believes the most important recommendation in the report is for a complete change in how the social service system works in the county, state and nation.

"Right now the system is geared toward the protection of the family, for keeping dysfunctional families together," he said. "We need to shift that to the protection of the child." He added, "All these recommendations are good, but the key to this report is the need for a shift in the legal basis for how we operate. If we don't do that, nothing else matters." Ford said that some of the panel's recommendations are going to be difficult to enact, and not all of them will be accomplished. Two of the recommendations at the county level were calls for improved access to Mental Health/Mental Retardation services and improved supportive services for relatives who assume the care of children when their parents can't. Several changes were recommended at the Children and Youth Agency in order to facilitate earlier intervention and to provide continuity of care for abused and/or neglected children and their families. These included finding ways to reduce the turnover among caseworkers and to develop a plan for providing services when the agency's staff is temporarily reduced. The panel's report noted that the turnover rate is understandably high given the demands of the job, the minimal job qualifications and the low salary scale. To attract and keep competent, trained caseworkers, the team said it is necessary to make salaries more commensurate with the education and skill levels of workers. The report pointed out that Lancaster County did increase salaries in 1997 but said starting salary still need to be boosted. The report recommended that the number of Hispanics and African-Americans on the agency's professional staff be increased to better reflect the numbers of Hispanic and African-American families being served. The report noted that 103 of the 121 members of the agency's staff are white while there are just 11 Hispanics and five African-Americans. Maxwell Fisher's mother, April Fisher, and her four other children had received assistance and counseling from the Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Service Agency when she lived in Lancaster. After the family moved to Reading, their case was transferred to the Berks County's Children and Youth Agency. The agencies, however, were criticized after the baby's death for not adequately coordinating their efforts and for not acting more quickly to intervene. Other recommendations made by the panel and aimed at the state and federal levels were. Additional decision-making standards and guidelines for children and youth agencies and family courts. Additional mechanisms to facilitate the tracking of persons who abuse and/or neglect their children. Increased reimbursement rates for medical assistance providers. Increased accountability of mandated reporters of abuse and/or neglect. Mechanisms for Children and Youth Agencies to obtain drug testing on clients. An updating of Civil Service Children and Youth supervisor and caseworker position requirements. On the county level, recommendations included: Continued efforts to develop an effective collaborative countywide system of care for children and families. Reduced wait for family court hearings. Increased involvement of health and human service providers with the agency. Mandated service in a timely fashion for clients with court-ordered treatment plans. Increased acceptance of children on medical assistance by health care providers. Increased use of court-ordered drug and alcohol testing with agency clients. Streamlining of application process for public assistance. Expanded public transportation services. Increased availability of child-care services. Mechanisms for continuously updating service providers on resources. The panel complimented the Children and Youth Agency for immediately conducting its own internal evaluation after the death of Maxwell Fisher in December 1996 and for instituting a variety of changes and improvements before any review was done. The agency improved its record keeping and documentation; provided drug and alcohol training and consultation for the professional staff; and beefed up its staff by adding 10 new positions, including eight new caseworkers, a director of social services and a clerical position. In addition, the agency clarified and formalized its existing policy for inter-county case transfers and presented it to the Pennsylvania Child and Youth Administrators Association, which endorsed it. "Lancaster County Children and Youth Social Service Agency has long had a commitment to protecting its children and strengthening its families," the report reads. "Talented, caring staff have dedicated their lives to this mission. The agency has many strengths to build upon to continue to improve their services and do even more to meet the needs of families intheir community."