LAS VEGAS - November 7, 2008 - A performance audit of Nevada's child welfare agencies released this week by UNLV researchers revealed that drastic improvements must be made to ensure the safety and well-being of the children these agencies serve and that more support is needed from state, federal and public entities to increase staffing levels, reduce case loads and improve overall services.
As part of a $175,000 grant from the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, researchers from the Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy (NICRP) and the schools of law and social work at UNLV conducted a series of random, unannounced visits over a 10-month period to the three state agencies that provide child welfare services in Nevada.
In addition to the visits, the team reviewed more than 300 reports from 195 recent cases involving substantiated and unsubstantiated abuse, conducted interviews and focus groups with agency management and field workers and provided analysis of state and federally mandated policies and procedures.
"Our goal was to offer data-driven recommendations that will provide guidance to policymakers and agency administrators making the changes necessary to improve the system," said Denise Tanata Ashby, executive director of the NICRP and principal investigator on the grant.
While agencies responded promptly to reports of abuse and neglect, researchers found inadequate or missing documentation related to state and federally mandated safety assessments, parental notification of hearings and placement proceedings and sibling group separations.
The review also revealed deficiencies in the development of case plans tailored to the needs of children in permanency cases.
"The report shows that our child welfare agencies are not entirely broken, but are in need of repair to ensure that children and families receive the services necessary to keep children safe and families together in a stable environment," said Tanata Ashby.
Specific recommendations resulting from the audit include:
o Stronger investment and enhancements in human resources, including training, competitive salary rates and a reduction in caseloads
o Improve documentation practices and electronic data management systems to allow for frequent analysis and tracking of policies, procedures and state and federal laws
o Improve supervision of caseworkers by clearly defining roles and responsibilities of supervisors, when caseworkers need supervisory approval, and including mandatory components supervisors should check in all cases
o Update policies and procedures at both the agency and state levels to include all mandatory provisions of state and federal law
o Stronger investments in child welfare system through state and federal grant funding or philanthropic partnerships to supplement existing services
o Continue to monitor child welfare agencies and develop sustainable best practice models to ensure compliance with state and federal laws
The audit resulted from the passage of Assembly Bill 629 during the 2007 legislative session, which called for an independent consultant to review the performance of the three child welfare agencies in Nevada.
The UNLV research team included Denise Tanata Ashby, Jennifer Zipoy, Amanda Haboush and Tara Phebus from the NICRP in the School of Public Health; Joanne Thompson, Leroy Pelton and Marianne Hamrick from the School of Social Work; and Annette Appell from the William S. Boyd School of Law. The full report is available online at http://nic.unlv.edu.
