WELFARE REFORM IN INDIANA

A step backward for child welfare reform

Deep into the report of the Commission on Abused and Neglected Children is this ambitious if wildly naïve "expected outcome": national recognition for Indiana as a leader in the area of child abuse and neglect prevention. Pardon the skepticism, but that's not going to happen. There's no chance whatsoever that Indiana will become a leader in child protection reform. While some of the commission's proposals are necessary and overdue, such as increasing the number of caseworkers, none are groundbreaking. None ignite systemic change in the child protection system. None will make families safer or foster care an option of last resort. None will be emulated by other states.

"Basically, this report is the same old same old," says national reform activist Richard Wexler. "It's a collection of failed ideas that will simply leave Indiana with the same lousy system, only bigger." That's not the kind of review that earns national recognition. Nor was the Aug. 23 article in The Star reporting that Indiana is on the "radar screen" of Children's Rights, an advocacy group that has sued 12 states in federal court to force changes in child welfare bureaucracies. Children's Rights understands that a 52-page report doesn't bring reform. We've had one blue ribbon commission after another and all said the same thing: Spend more money, hire more caseworkers, reduce turnover, and train better. Did Indiana need a 15-month study commission to hear the same old same old?

What the commission could have done, but failed to do, was identify successful models around the country and urge the resources to implement them. Instead, it proposed creating another bureaucracy: an Institute for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment funded to the tune of $1 million a year. The institute's purported purpose would be to coordinate research, disseminate "best practices information" and train professionals in new methodologies. Talk about reinventing the wheel. There are already plenty of institutes around the country working furiously in this complicated area. In fact, there are seven national resource centers on child welfare issues funded at least in part by the federal government. You can read about them at the Web site: http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/reslist/cbttan/index.cfm

Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va., read the commission report with a fine-toothed comb and found only two of 32 recommendations that could be considered "best practices." One is an "alternative response system," already in place in two-thirds of the states and successfully piloted in Indianapolis, which summons community services to keep families together in low-risk situations. The other is mandatory appointment of a defense lawyer for families entitled to one, even if the families pleaded guilty to abuse charges. Wexler sent reams of material to the commission as it studied the problem and is perplexed that the report doesn't cite any of it or even identify successful reform efforts around the country. Wexler lifts up New Jersey, Alabama and Allen County, Pa., as three of the best examples. Illinois, which experienced many tragedies similar to the child deaths that prompted Indiana's review, is another. If the commission didn't want to rely on Wexler, a somewhat controversial figure because of his steadfast promotion of family preservation over foster care, it could have found the same advice in more mainstream sources.

The January 2004 issue of "The Future of Children," a policy review published by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, highlighted successful reforms in Illinois, New York City and Santa Clara County, Calif. As well-intended as the commission was, this is an instance when the best thing that could happen is to put the report on a shelf and let it gather dust. "I think there's a perception in some quarters that says, 'yeah, these recommendations may not be great, but they're a first step and then we can come back and do more.' The problem is they're a step backwards," Wexler says. If Indiana simply adds more caseworkers to a system that doesn't work, the system won't work better.

There's a saying in the business world: Know when to follow and when to lead. When it comes to child protection, it's time for Indiana to follow.

Andrea Neal
25 August 2004

http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/172963-3882-021.html

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