Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 Source: Register-Herald, The (Beckley, WV) Copyright: 2005 The Register-Herald Contact: http://www.register-herald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1441 Author: Fred Pace, Register-Herald Business Editor CPS OFFICIALS WEIGH IN ON BABIES BORN WITH DRUG ADDICTIONS CHARLESTON - Lawmakers were told by officials with the Department of Health and Human Resources' that each county's Child Protective Services Division doesn't handle all cases the same. "Every county handles them differently," said Paula Taylor, a social services coordinator for Monongalia and Marion counties. Taylor was responding to a question from a member of the Legislature's special committee on Child Protective Services, which met Monday during legislative interim sessions. "Because of different judges in different counties, cases such as a baby born addicted to drugs could be handled differently," Taylor said. "For example, in Monongalia County, the court system doesn't want to hear about it until something happens with the baby, but in Marion County the fact the baby was born addicted to drugs is enough for them to file to take custody of the baby." Taylor told lawmakers that in most cases, drug-addicted babies eventually go home with their parents. Raleigh County Delegate Ron Thompson said legislation should be developed to deal with this issue statewide. "There should be a statewide law regarding babies born addicted to drugs," Thompson said. Margaret Waybright, commissioner for the Bureau for Children and Families, said there have been a couple of baby fatality cases recently, but she could not speak about them specifically due to confidentiality laws. CPS came under fire in Raleigh County after a 5-day-old baby died from lack of heat in the home. The child and the mother were supposedly under the care of CPS. "Critical incidents are reviewed in-house and by a Child Fatality Review Team outside of the DHHR," Waybright said. "This happens anytime a child dies in West Virginia." Waybright told lawmakers that significant progress has been made within the Child Protective Services division, but there is still much work to be done. "We average about 2,000 intakes per month and that doesn't count all the referrals that are not accepted," she said. "We average about 3,800 ongoing cases per month." Waybright said the Legislature's response to the need for additional staff and higher pay for CPS workers has made a difference. "Our vacancy rate for CPS workers was 25 percent, but it is now down to 9 percent," she said. Waybright said the agency is now dealing with the fact that about 42 percent of CPS workers have less than a year's experience on the job. "We have strong CPS policy, but we must have the experienced workers to understand how to properly implement those policies," Waybright said. The agency received a $3.3 million improvement package in its last budget from the Legislature, which was mostly used to increase the number of CPS workers and to also increase their pay. "We have increased pay, upgraded positions and are making real progress," Waybright said. "The pay is not were it needs to be, but the increases have helped to retain workers and also recruit others." Waybright said the DHHR is currently dealing with over 200 grievances filed by other workers in the agency who did not receive pay raises. Waybright told lawmakers that CPS has implemented a crisis response team to address backlog cases, developed a comprehensive training program, implemented a mentoring program for new workers and new supervisors, and made the decision not to give new workers entire caseloads until they are fully trained. Waybright added that CPS is prioritizing infant cases and cases involving children under 6 years of age. "We are looking at our strengths and weaknesses and developing corrective action plans where they are needed," she said. "All of these things should strengthen CPS as an agency." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth