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Rock County Board orders probe into county's child welfare system

Janesville Gazette - 10/14/2021

Oct. 14—JANESVILLE — The Rock County Board has authorized a probe of the county's child welfare system in the wake of recent concerns raised by foster parents and others over turnover within the ranks of Child Protective Services caseworkers and a shift in how casework is handled.

On Thursday, all 24 supervisors who attended the county board meeting directed the county's administration to seek a contract with a "third party with expert knowledge of child welfare" to assess the county's child welfare system and identify improvements the county might make to the system.

The vote came a day after Rock County's Human Services Board recommended the county hire out an independent review of its constellation of child welfare programs, priorities, case practices and staffing schemes.

Since earlier this summer, the county has been buffeted by public complaints and concerns that its child welfare system has foundered under high employee turnover, slow or incomplete casework, and a shift to keeping more children at home with their birth families or close relatives.

Some of those concerned, including some members of the county board and the county's Human Services Board, have been calling for weeks for an independent probe of the child welfare system.

Human Services Department top officials, who have overarching authority over the county's child welfare system, have defended the department's handling of casework. They have said the county is working to get in lockstep with an emerging shift toward reunification of children with birth families, which 2018 federal "Families First" rules place as the top priority in the child welfare system.

Under orders the board gave county administrators Thursday, the county would hire a third-party consultant to identify and discuss publicly "all areas of concern" identified within the county's child welfare system.

Under guidelines recommended by the Human Services Board, the consultant would seek:

* Input from all stakeholders, including birth parents, foster parents, court officials, Rock County and state Department of Children and Families staff, and other interested parties.

* An "in-depth review" of the county's current child welfare case practice, including "random" review of cases.

* A review of local and statewide data on performance and outcomes for child welfare programs.

* A better understanding of efforts to shift child welfare standards, practice, policies and laws at the local, state and federal level.

It's not clear when the county might move forward with the consultant's review or how long the review might take. The county board said the review ultimately would identify possible improvements to the child welfare system.

It would be at least the second survey of the child welfare system in the past few years. The last review was an internal inventory by a Minnesota firm which lists itself in corporate literature as a staunch supporter of emerging federal "Families First" rules, including reunification of children with their birth parents.

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(c)2021 The Janesville Gazette (Janesville, Wis.)

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