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."
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MAP posted-by: Beth