DCS Caseworkers May Have 400% More Cases Than Approved, But Has A New Slogan: “Children First!”
Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
As heard in the Tennessee House Government Operations Committee yesterday, Department of Children’s Services (DCS) caseworkers may be responsible for 400% of the approved number of cases, but the agency has a new slogan: Children First!
The committee passed HB0203 which extends the existence of DCS beyond its sunset deadline of June 30, 2023, for another year.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, in spite of the conversation in here, we can throw all the money in the world at this, we can hire all the people in the world to take on these roles, and bring case loads down to five, there is still no state substitute for a loving mother and father to take care of a child,” said Representative Justin Lafferty (R-Knoxville-District 89). “Along those lines, do you all have any numbers that illustrate how many of these kids come from broken homes versus two-parent homes? Do you have any breakdown on numbers like that?”
“We may. There may be some data on that,” answered Commissioner Margie Quin. “I don’t have it here in front of me, but I can probably get that to you.”
The agency has been fraught with dysfunction since Governor Bill Lee took office and appointed Memphis attorney Jennifer Nichols as DCS Commissioner in January 2019. Nichols came into the agency knowing that the December 2020 audit was dismal, that she was short-staffed, that children were being bounced from place to place, and that the staff was disgruntled. In August 2021, a culture survey revealed that the staff felt that this top heavy bureaucratic agency was more concerned with meeting its quotas than caring for the welfare of the case workers or kids in custody.
Nichols stepped down in July 2022 and Governor Lee brought in Quin with a background in law enforcement and human trafficking from TBI. Before she could take on the mantle of leadership, a joint legislative session was held August 30, 2022, discussing the lack of foster care homes and the high turnover of DCS field staff.
The first order of business for Commissioner Quin was to ask for more money, a lot more.
In December 2022, another audit report was released and another meeting was held with the Joint Government Operations committee. That meeting ended with Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield-District 25) and Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge-District 33) asking for quarterly reports on the improvements in the system regarding retention of case workers, expansion of foster homes, inclusion and expansion of transition homes, assurance that children were not sleeping on the floor of DCS offices, and an improvement (or replacement) of the data management system.
Yesterday Quin said that the agency has hired over 300 new caseworkers with an increased salary range and has over a 1,000 new foster homes in process, but all of this is still a work in progress. The only real marker of success so far is getting kids off of the floor of state offices.
Quin told the committee that DCS has a new mission statement and vision: Children First! When asked what the mission statement and vision were before, Quin stated that none of the leadership of DCS was able to articulate it prior to this year’s leadership conference.
Quin admitted that a caseworker could have up to 80 cases, 400% more than the approved caseload in the Brian A Settlement Agreement of 20 cases per worker. To resolve this, Quin said that DCS will hold “special events to flood the area with special personnel to reduce caseloads.”
Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville-District 13) said she is still receiving calls from disgruntled caseworkers about the department’s dysfunction, that employees feel there is no mobility within the department, and that new hires were told they would be earning a certain salary and are not.
Family policy specialist and activist Connie Reguli attended the hearing. She said, “Throughout the entire hearing, no one asked about the children and their families. The questions raised by Representative Lafferty was the closest inquiry to the state of the family in Tennessee. No one asked how long are kids in care. Has DCS implemented the new federal Family First Act to reduce unnecessary removals? Are adequate services being provided to families for rehabilitation? No one asked if there is anything we can do about drug addiction to make parents healthier so the children can maintain a relationship with their parents. No one.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Children FIRST after MY Pay Check for doing nothing!!!
Most likely they haven’t really hired anybody really QUALIFIED , just looking at educational requirements , which are not accurate tools for measuring ones aptitude for doing the job . C hidrens Services is ‘ KNOWN ‘ to be utterly CORRUPT , Whoever is running it , needs to have something as in a vested interest in making it right . Otherwise it’s just a show that continues on and on , with deplorable results .
They need to be outright honest about matters , noting Georgia Senator NANCY SCHAEFER and Senator LINDA COLLINS SMITH .
The Mayor needs to call for a PUBLIC. MEETING where parents considered to be not doing right in regards to their children , can speak and offer explanations and suggestions , as other parents might be adversely effected if the meeting is not civil . Every parent or most just might be surprising ly cooperative , given such a venue to speak .