Welfare Watch - July 22, 2010 - The Kenny A Monitors Got it Wrong

The Kenny A Monitors reported that foster children in Fulton and DeKalb counties are being abused and neglected at the highest rate in four years.  The numbers that were the basis of their report and subsequent press releases and newspaper articles by the AJC were largely inaccurate. Both the AJC and Children's Rights failed to recognize the significant improvements that Fulton and DeKalb Counties have made in their child welfare systems.  They placed their focus on the "maltreatment in care" numbers that were known to be wrong well before this report was released.  

Do not mistake the intention of this Welfare Watch.  NO CHILD WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN MALTREATED SHOULD EVER AGAIN BE HURT.  The child welfare system should always seek improvement through constant review and accountability.  Maltreatment of a foster child should never be tolerated.  It is the most serious breach of our trust and commitment to our children. 

Maltreatment in care numbers should be zero.  Nowhere in this country does any state meet this standard.  Since maltreatment does happen, the Federal Government has set a high state standard for safety for children in foster care.  The standard for safety is 99.68%.  This standard states that no more than 3.2 children per 1000 foster children should ever be hurt while in foster care.

How does Georgia fare in keeping children safe while in foster care?  Pretty well. Foster children statewide are safe 99.63% of the time. 

Georgia has less than 4 children out of every 1000 hurt while in care.  Nineteen (19) other states currently do better than Georgia.  The National average is 99.50% (5 out of every 1000 foster children are maltreated while in care).  Georgia's safety rate while in care is 99.67 (less than 4 out of every thousand), a tiny fraction short of meeting the Federal standard of 99.68%. 

Where did the monitors and Children's Rights go wrong on the numbers?  DFCS had the wrong numbers.  A recent audit of their system completed in March 2010 revealed that these "maltreatment" numbers included "reports of abuse" that happened before the child came into foster care.  In other words, the reports that brought the child to the attention of DFCS were included in the foster care numbers.  These numbers also include reports that do not meet the federal definition of maltreatment.  Running away is not maltreatment. When these data entry mistakes are taken out of these numbers, Georgia's safety numbers look outstanding. 

The AJC headline concerning the Monitor's Report should not be, Foster Care Abuse and Neglect Up in Fulton and DeKalb, it should be, Georgia Excels in Improving its Outcomes for Children.  Lost on page 4 of the Monitor's Report is the statement, "...the State's overall performance, for the most part, continued the trend of steady improvement observed over the last several periods."  Georgia showed improvement or similar results in 22 of the 31 measures of the Kenny A Consent Decree. Lost too, in the report, was the fact that Georgia has half as many children in care as it did when the suit began.  More children are getting permanent homes and caseloads are significantly down compared to where we were several years ago.   

Bad news sell newspapers and bad numbers win lawsuits. This is not always good for children or always beneficial furthering the improvement of the system charged with their care.  Transparency, accountability and improvement require the best possible data tools. 

_____________________________________
Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
                       Normer Adams, Editor
___________________________________

GAHSC membership
training events