RELEASE: March 12 , 2004

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DYFS surpasses its goal by safely closing 7,400 cases

The Division of Youth and Family Services safely closed 1,761 cases last week for a total of 7,408 cases over the past six weeks, surpassing its goal to safely close 6,000 cases, Acting Human Services Commissioner James Davy announced today.

For the first time since the closing project began, the caseload actually decreased with only 1,421 new cases opened last week. In addition, 912 cases originally identified for closure remained open.

“Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff we have met our goal of safely closing thousands of cases no longer needing services,” Davy said. “However, more cases are being identified for closure so there’s plenty more we need to do to reduce the caseload.”

Davy has also directed his staff to begin planning additional hires in the current year to ease the rising caseloads carried by individual workers. Caseworkers in DYFS district offices supervise an average of 42 children, but many veteran workers carry higher caseloads because workers with less than a year experience have limited numbers of cases.

Closing the 6,000 backlogged cases was one of seven immediate actions ordered by Davy on January 14. Acting Commissioner Davy gave the following progress report on those actions:

• Expedite the Licensing Process and Add 100 New Foster Family and Treatment Homes

Status: The Department has licensed 199 new homes this year. In addition, about 250 potential foster homes are involved in a “parallel track” licensing system, undergoing home studies while the prospective foster parents are still in training.

• Increase transportation and child care services to ensure that foster children do not spend their days in DYFS district offices.

Status: Last week, six children spent significant amounts of time in DYFS district offices. In January, the division typically saw two to four children each day spending significant time in district offices.

• End the practice of allowing newborns to remain in hospitals after they are medically cleared to leave.

Status: Of 21 “boarder babies” in New Jersey hospitals on Jan. 14, the last baby was discharged last week and placed in a pediatric group home. All told, there are 21 boarder babies statewide as of today. Two veteran DYFS workers continue working in the Newark area – which has about 75 percent of the state’s boarder baby cases – to target this problem. Last week, one family team conference was held in Newark to discuss active boarder baby cases. In this case, relatives were identified to provide a home for the child. A total of seven boarder babies were discharged from hospitals last week, and only one was placed with relatives. We need more relatives to step forward.

• Redo safety assessments of 6,000 children in out-of-home placement.

Status: Like last week, 1,589 DYFS workers and 697 community agency staff members were trained in the new assessment protocol. One additional training session is being scheduled. DYFS workers and their community agency counterparts have held 385 pre-assessment conferences and completed 102 assessments through the end of last week. No safety concerns were noted.

• Bolster foster parent recruitment and retention.

Status: The Hispanic Information Center – which has a contract to develop 10 foster-care beds for Hispanic children – has identified five potential foster homes in Hudson County and one in Passaic County. One family completed training and another three began training this week. In addition, DHS officials continue working with the child welfare panel to develop a $1.5 million initiative to recruit resource homes in targeted communities. Davy said he expects the final plan will be finalized shortly.

• Expedite medical examinations of children going to foster homes and other placements.

Status: Last week we filled two of the 12 nursing openings to medical screenings for children moving from one foster placement to another. We are actively interviewing for the remaining vacancies. In addition, pediatricians are available in all 21 counties to examine children going into foster care and other out-of-home placements.

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