Georgia Division of Family and Children Services sees improvement while touring state

ALBANY — Two years ago, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS), by its director’s own admission, was in dire shape. Now, under better circumstances, the agency is looking to engage the public in its operations.

In an effort to involve the public on reforms to Georgia’s child welfare system, DFCS Director Bobby Cagle was recently in Albany as part of a tour of the state to meet with stakeholders and the public.

The “Blueprint for Change Roadshow” events are part of an approach to “improve agency services, develop agency staff and involve communities in efforts to strengthen Georgia’s child welfare and economic assistance programs.” During each event, including the one in Albany, Cagle and other agency leaders are seeking input from law enforcement, judges, foster parents, foster youth, legislators, media partners, faith-based organizations, DFCS staff and the public to give feedback on behalf of vulnerable families.

One of the takeaways DFCS is hoping to establish during the roadshow is improvement at DFCS.

In 2014, 4,000 overdue child welfare investigations were listed in the state. The DFCS director said the agency was even under government threat of penalty for failure to perform its duties, which was tied to a staff shortage brought on by the recession. Over the last three budget cycles, new positions have been added.

The positions include 450 child welfare staff added from 2014 to 2015.

“We are on much more stable footing,” Cagle said.

The backlog has recovered, and now 96 percent of welfare cases are on time and 95 percent of food stamp requests are now timely.

“It is almost a complete reversal,” Cagle said.

A centralized reporting system for child welfare concerns was established in Georgia in April 2014. The following October, more than 4,500 investigations were opened as a result of abuse and neglect referrals.

The turnover of welfare workers is 31 percent, 25 percent in economic assistance services. Those figures mean there are many cases in which employees do not get beyond basic training before moving on. The starting salary for a welfare worker is $28,000, and $24,000 for someone in economic assistance, so there is a push to get salaries bumped up.

“We are working with our legislative leaders to (raise) up salaries and keep our staff,” Cagle said.

The DFCS roadshow includes a “town hall” style event in each community hosted by Cagle and Stephanie Blank, chairwoman for Gov. Nathan Deal’s Child Welfare Reform Council, to gather comments from the public on the need for services in communities.

“I want to ensure I remain in contact and communicate with local leaders,” Cagle said. “I’m very pleased with how it is going.”

It is no secret that Southwest Georgia is one of the poorest areas of the state, which makes the environment at DFCS relevant to many who live in the region.

“It is very important that we provide good services and do it timely (for those in Southwest Georgia),” Cagle said. “(We provide) no frills. These are basic necessities. We have to work hard to continue the progress we have made.”

The changes have helped the morale at DFCS as well, since such changes have allowed the staff to better do their jobs.

“I am very optimistic about the future,” Cagle said. “We have support from the legislature and throughout the state, and as long as we have that (we can continue improvement).”

Continued improvement in quality is being sought, and almost $7.4 million in proposed new funding is on the table to add 175 new child welfare case managers and supervisors.

The roadshow kicked off in the Albany area last week and will continue with monthly stops in communities around the state through October in Gainesville, Marietta, Atlanta, Newnan, Macon and Dublin.