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Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009

Social workers say they — and children — still aren't safe

FRANKFORT — Kenton County social worker Barbara Cowan didn't get home Tuesday until after 9 p.m.

She was supposed to leave work after 4 p.m., but she had to investigate four possible child abuse and neglect cases that came to the office late that day. No other staff was available.

In one case, a police officer accompanied her, calling in three additional units to help. She investigated the others alone, protected only by a cell phone and a case file, Cowan said.

"This is my job," she told a legislative committee on Wednesday. "This is not unusual."

Cowan was among a group of social workers from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services who told the Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare that not much has changed in the two years since lawmakers approved what was supposed to be a landmark social worker safety bill.

The 2007 Boni Bill was named after Boni Frederick, a social services aide who was killed while taking an infant child for a home visit with her mother. The bill called for spending $6 million to hire more front-line staff, increase security at cabinet offices and establish neutral family visitation sites at cabinet offices, but much of that spending never happened.

Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Lexington, said the legislature did social workers a disservice by only giving the cabinet $2 million to implement the bill. The cabinet was supposed to find the remaining money on its own, but the state has made more than $800 million in cuts since 2007 to balance the budget.

"Those funds were too important," Palumbo said.

Cabinet officials said Wednesday that they have tried to implement as much of the Boni Bill as possible.

"Every day we strive to do the very best we can with what we have," said Vikki Franklin, a spokeswoman for the cabinet.

Social workers said Wednesday that the cabinet's own figures showed nearly 400 vacant front-line positions in October 2008.

Workers testified that risk assessments of cabinet offices were completed after the bill was passed, but few safety improvements were made. Of the offices assessed, 99 percent do not have panic devices and 90 percent no longer have security guards.

It's not just social workers who are paying for the lack of security, workers said, noting that any drop in the number of front-line workers means fewer people to protect Kentucky's children.

A national non-profit group on Tuesday released a report showing that Kentucky leads the nation in the rate of child deaths from abuse and neglect. The information was based on 2007 figures, the most recent data available.

"That's as high a price as you can get," said Sheila Patrick, a social worker from Menifee County.

Linda Craig, a family support case worker, said case loads for other cabinet services, such as food stamps and other welfare benefits, are so high that some families are being evicted from homes or losing their cars before staff can help them.

Cowan said she recently took a child abuse investigation call on her day off because another team in her Kenton County office that also investigates abuse and neglect cases was no longer doing follow-up investigations. The team had eight child fatalities in six months, an "astronomical number," Cowan said.

"We can't ensure children's safety if we can't ensure our own," Cowan said.

Social workers also said they were warned not to discuss their concerns with the media or with legislators.

Franklin said that wasn't true. All cabinet staff are told that inquiries from the media should be routed through the communication office. Cabinet employees can talk to the media or legislators but it must be on their own time, Franklin said.

The social workers said they hoped to work with legislators to draft legislation that would address some of their concerns in the legislative session that begins in January. They would like to see more safety training, a reduction in case loads and more security upgrades.

Cabinet officials left the meeting before the social workers testified. Patricia Pregliasco, a social worker from Jefferson County, questioned why administrators left before legislators' questions were addressed. Franklin said late Tuesday that administrators were not asked to attend the discussion.

Since the Boni Bill was enacted, Pregliasco said she feels "about 10 percent safer."