Did anyone read the article in the Indianapolis Star on Sunday? We have had concerns for quite some time about the state of child welfare in Indiana and appreciate that Mr. Evans (the author of the article) is bringing to light what some of those concerns are. As you can tell by the article, the tragic deaths of these children are happening all over the state and could happen here in Montgomery County as well. Being a CASA and being the only one exclusively representing the best interest of the child, our job has never been more important!
As the article states, all calls to report child abuse are now going to a central hotline. When a call is received at the central hotline, the intake worker, after taking the information, makes a recommendation to the supervisor as to whether the call should be screened out or should be passed on to the County it originated from for investigation. Even if the worker is recommending investigation, it has to be approved by the supervisor before being passed on for investigation. If the supervisor does not approve the recommendation for investigation, the call may be screened out. However if the supervisor agrees, the call will then be passed on to the County who is obligated to investigate. In checking the statistics for 2011 for the hotline, they report receiving 146,070 calls for the year. They report an average waiting time on hold to make a report, for non-law enforcement, to be two minutes and one second. The average length of time spent between the intake worker and the caller is 11 minutes and 54 seconds. There are several things of concern here. One is the absence of comparison between calls received and calls screened out. I for one would be interested to know just how many calls are screened out. The second concern is the fact that anyone would be put on hold when they are calling to report abuse, let alone that they are on hold for over 2 minutes. I wonder if the $101,000,000 returned to the state from childrens services could have been used to hire more intake workers to prevent the public or law enforcement officers from being on hold when trying to protect children. The third issue is the length of time on the intake calls. Although I believe that if trained appropriately, you can gather pertinent information efficiently, one has to wonder if 11 minutes is enough time to get a clear picture of a complex situation.
Substantiation of abuse is another concern. I understand that there are statutory conditions that must be met for a situation to be substantiated as abuse or neglect. But there is certainly room for interpretation of those statutes. I am concerned that the interpretation currently is very narrow, leading to children going unprotected and in part, leading to the tragic deaths noted in the article.
According to the 2011Kids Count Data Book, in 2010 the child abuse/neglect rate per 1,000 children under the age of 18 in Montgomery County was 29.5!! This is more than twice the state average of 14.5. We need to be very concerned and make sure that we are doing all that we can to keep children safe. What we do not want to do is give up in frustration, or stop trying because “it won’t make a difference”. What this article points out is that we have a lot to do to make a difference. We need to call and keep calling when we suspect abuse, we need to educate everyone about child abuse signs and symptoms, we need to make sure people are aware of issues regarding child welfare and educate them about politicians’ stance on these issues. CASAs need to make sure that they continue to be strong advocates for children. Child abuse is not someone else’s problem, it is all of our problem and we need to stand up and make sure that we are doing everything we can to protect our most valuable asset, our children.
