After Child Deaths, Calls To Fix CPS: More Money Or Better Management?
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AUSTIN (CBS11) - Urgent calls for changes at Child Protective Services come after four-year-old Leiliana Wright and two-year-old Lyfe Flores died as their families were investigated by CPS.
At a State Senate hearing Wednesday, John Specia, the Commissioner of the Department of Family Protective Services, which oversees CPS, acknowledged in the Dallas area, many caseworkers are leaving because they're responsible for a very high caseload.
"We fail them when their caseloads are too high and we don't give them the resources to do their job," said Specia.
During the hearing, Specia seemed to surprise lawmakers when he said before they can lower employee caseloads, they still have to figure out how long it takes to work a child abuse case.
"The first step has to be identify how long it takes to work a case, what is the average amount of time to work a case, once we know that, we do not know that right now," said Specia. "We're guessing."
The commissioner said every time they hire a new caseworker, it takes eight months to train them at a cost of $54,000.
Their starting salary is $32,000.
So Democratic Senator Carlos Uresti of San Antonio suggested giving them a raise.
"If we were to give these caseworkers a salary of X, whatever that is, $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, at some point we're going to see that turnover rate go down," said Uresti.
Uresti argued a lower turnover rate would save children's lives.
But Republican lawmakers said they've given the agency big budget increases in part to hire more caseworkers, and Commissioner Specia agreed.
"The legislature in the last two sessions has put in over half a billion dollars into this agency," said Specia. "This legislature has been responsive to the needs."
One consultant hired by the state, John Stephen of New Hampshire, suggested money is not the problem. Management is.
"Supervision is a factor," said Stephen. "We saw that supervision was lacking in terms of cultivating a good workforce."
This issue has the full attention of Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Joe Straus.
In a statement Wednesday, Patrick said he also wants to work with the faith-based community to improve CPS.
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