By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - More than two years ago, the Ohio Auditor's Office made a host of recommendations to improve Butler County Children Services. With varying degrees of success, the agency is addressing almost all of the recommendations.

The major ones include:

• Recruit more foster parents so that fewer Butler County children need to be placed at out-of-county foster homes so they can be near family and friends, and stay in their schools.

About 37 percent of Butler foster children are placed outside the county, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services statistics. There are 149 Butler County children in foster homes in the county and 250 in foster homes outside the county.

Mike Francis, former Children Services board chairman who served as acting executive director until recently, said the agency is trying to address the situation and is working to recruit more foster parents.

• Investigate cases more quickly.

Children Services has expanded staffing so it can respond to non-emergency calls within 24 hours, which is the state's standard. Instead of having a crisis center in Oxford handle emergency hotline calls in off-hours, Children Services now has its own staff take those calls.

Staff is on hand to take telephone calls after 10 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends.

• Rely less on child removal and more on family counseling and reunification measures.

The agency has taken many steps to stop the unnecessary removal of children from their homes and to help families stay together.

• Reduce the average workload of caseworkers so they can spend more time monitoring and helping each family.

The average caseworker has an ongoing caseload of 19.6 families per worker. The state recommends 13. Children Services is trying to fill job vacancies so that its average caseload will be closer to the state recommended level, Mr. Francis said. County officials want more of the agency's employees to be certified social workers.

• Make the agency more approachable and responsive to the public and to the families it serves.

Children Services has instituted a grievance process that allows families to challenge decisions made by caseworkers and their supervisors. The agency also hired a new director of quality assurance to handle complaints and grievances from families; and it hired an ombudsman and a director of advocacy.

• Use computer technology more extensively.

Children Services hired a new director of technology, who is working to computerize the agency and make it easier to gather data and track cases.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com