RELEASE: February 11 , 2004

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DYFS Closes More Than 2,000 Cases No Longer Requiring State Intervention

The Division of Youth and Family Services closed more than 2,000 cases in the past few weeks, clearing one-third of a backlog of 6,000 cases involving children identified as being safe and no longer in need of state intervention, Acting Human Services Commissioner James Davy announced today.

The 6,000 cases had remained open because workers were unable to complete required paperwork and various other tasks to close the cases because of the growing number of children on DYFS’ caseload.

About 360 DYFS supervisory staff volunteered to review the cases. Most of the supervisors were ineligible for overtime pay, but the Department secured a waiver from the state Department of Personnel to pay overtime for the case reviews. To date, 2,056 cases have been closed.

“I’m very pleased with the progress so far, because a week ago we had only closed 422 cases,” said Acting Commissioner Davy. “This is an important step if we are to reduce the caseloads for our individual workers to manageable levels.”

A concerted effort to close the 6,000 cases was one of seven immediate action steps that Davy announced on Jan. 14 as interim measures to improve DYFS while state officials continued drafting a sweeping reform plan for the child welfare system. The larger plan, required under teams of a class-action lawsuit filed by Children’s Rights Inc., will be submitted Feb. 18 to the plaintiffs and an expert child welfare panel overseeing the DYFS reforms.

Acting Commissioner Davy offered the following progress report on the six remaining immediate actions:

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

Status: DYFS has licensed 126 new homes this year. In addition, nearly 200 additional foster parents have been moved onto a “parallel track” licensing system, under which they undergo home studies while still participating in foster parent training. Home studies on those foster parents-in-training began this week.

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

Status: The four DYFS regional offices have transportation aides and contracts with child care providers and after-school programs so that children have alternative places to go. Currently, no children are spending days in DYFS offices for lack of transportation.

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

Status: Davy announced on Jan. 14 that all 21 “boarder babies” in New Jersey hospitals would be placed in homes by Feb. 28. To date, 19 of the babies have been placed, while two remain in hospitals. Two veteran DYFS workers continue working in the Newark area, which has about 75 percent of the state’s boarder baby cases, to target the boarder baby problem. One of the workers is stationed at University Hospital in Newark to initiate family team conferences to identify suitable relative homes for boarder babies. So far, 18 such family team meetings have been held. Davy also dedicated $300,000 to fund home studies of relatives willing to take the babies home and to pay for items such as cribs and car seats.

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

Status: So far, 1,222 DYFS workers and 440 community agency staff members were trained in the new assessment protocol, and additional staff will be trained in the next week. Pre-assessment meetings between DYFS workers and community agencies involved in the process will begin shortly, and the assessments will begin as early as next week.

• Bolster foster parent recruitment and retention.

Status: State officials continue to develop ideas to provide support services for existing foster parents and recruit new homes in targeted communities as part of the larger reform plan. As an interim measure, the Hispanic Information Center is recruiting Spanish-speaking foster parents in Hudson and Passaic counties to address a crucial need in the state’s foster care system. The Hispanic Information Center has a contract to develop 10 beds in those counties.

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

Status: Pediatricians in all 21 counties have agreed to examine children going into foster care and other out-of-home placements, as a result of a partnership between DYFS and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Also, DYFS continues to work on hiring 10 new nurses to handle medical screenings for children moving from one foster placement to another. DYFS’ nursing staff have been issued cell phones and pagers so they can be reached immediately to conduct exams when necessary.

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