Why are things getting worse?
1) COVID lockdown:
During the lockdown, abused children were literally trapped at home with their abusers. This multiplied the stress on Child Protection Services as an institution and on the social workers doing their best in an impossible situation.
2) Social workers are overworked, underpaid, and leaving their positions:
Stress and Turn over were high for these positions pre-COVID! Now we have positions unfilled which places an even higher caseload on the already overloaded remaining social workers.
3) Institutional failure:
Bureaucracy gravitates to operating as a closed-system. They protect themselves and reflexively avoid pubic input. Without input and reporting, complaints can be controlled.
4) What are we measuring:
Seemingly everything except outcomes! High caseloads translate into minimal time for each abused child. Do we care if CPS contacts 100 children if the time for each child is only a few minutes? Recent external measurement explains allot.
So what can be done?
How about we NOT eliminate the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Guardian ad-Litem Community Volunteers? They take fewer cases but go deeper into each case. They visit abused children and can spend hours with a child. Which humanizes Child Protection Services and deeper knowledge of the case.
Here’s what to do:
Tell your State Representative that you support community involvement and better metrics in the Child Protection System and most importantly … NOT to end the CASA community volunteer program. Please share this with your networks.
Find your State Rep here! |
