Wednesday, October 20, 1999
Children's agency responds to criticism
Emphasis: Keep families intact
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Butler County Children Services officials, responding to criticism by a state audit and some parents, said Tuesday they are trying harder to keep children with their families.
Some critics of the agency, which has suffered two consecutive levy defeats in the past year, have accused it of unnecessarily removing children from their families.
“We're looking more at returning children to their families,” Kathy Vallance, assistant director of Children Services, said Tuesday at a news conference in Hamilton. Officials called the conference to address issues raised in an audit by the Ohio Auditor's Office that was released last week.
The audit said the agency removes too many children when in-home counseling and other services might have been used instead.
The agency, which helped the auditor's office in pinpointing deficiencies, has been placing more emphasis in recent months on counseling and other services, Ms. Vallance said.
In September, of the abuse and neglect complaints involving 42 children that reached Butler County Juvenile Court, 21 were placed with relatives and 15 with Children Services, and six experienced no custody change, she said.
In the first 15 days of October, complaints involving 28 children resulted in 19 placements with relatives and only one with Children Services, Ms. Vallance said. Custody remained the same for six of the children.
The Butler County commissioners asked for the audit so that the county would know what areas of Children Services needed improvement.
The audit said the agency is understaffed, has failed to recruit enough foster parents, takes too long in investigating cases, removes some children from their families too quickly and needs to use more computer technology.
Children Services is in a fight for financial stability, with a 2-mill levy renewal on the Nov. 2 ballot. If it fails, the agency will have a $2.5 million deficit next year. The levy would not increase taxes.
County Commissioner Mike Fox, who has criticized the agency in the past two years, said he thinks the agency is trying to rectify past problems and is changing for the better.
An example he cited was a pamphlet Children Services has just begun distributing to parents who are targets of child abuse or neglect complaints. The pamphlet advises parents of their rights and explains how to deal with the agency to resolve the situation quickly and fairly.
Mr. Fox also said the agency is moving toward being more open with families.
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