The Boni Bill (finally) passes

Photographs from www.amw.com

On October 16, 2006, social worker Boni Frederick took 10-month-old Saige Terrell to his mother's house in Henderson, Kentucky.

The decision had been made to terminate parental custody and place Saige up for adoption.

Boni didn't know that this visit would end with her death.

Renee Terrell and her boyfriend Christopher Luttrell (pictured above) stabbed Boni and beat her to death. They stole her car and jewelry and kidnapped the child. Saige was found safe and returned to foster care after a three-day manhunt.

The field of social work can be very dangerous:

-According to the National Institute for Social Work, over 75% of social workers have been verbally or physically attacked.

-Half of all human services professionals will experience client violence at some point during their careers.

As a social worker from Glasgow, Kentucky stated, "It's scary knocking on someone's door and not knowing what's on the other side."

The "Boni Bill" was proposed, in the aftermath of Boni Frederick's untimely death, in an effort to address social worker safety.

State Rep. Tom Burch, sponsor of the bill, said it best: "When you get involved with removing children from a home it can get very dangerous. You don't know what your reaction would be if someone came in to take your child away."

The Boni Bill originally included:

1.) Hiring 200 more social workers. Kentucky desperately needs more social workers, because current staff are overworked and under-supervised, with weighty caseloads.

2.) Adding safety equipment, such as panic buttons or a GPS system to track the location of social workers in danger. Social workers have reported that cell-phone coverage isn't available in many rural areas.

3.) Creating secure visitation sites around the state for parents to visit their children in state custody. Neutral locations might include state welfare offices, local health departments and/or churches, as well as building secure visitation centers across the state.

4.) A price tag of up to $20 million. Governor Ernie Fletcher approved of this spending, saying, "I consider this an urgent need."

Obstacles that the Boni Bill faced over the next several months:

1.) MONEY: On February 15, 2007, the House Committee approved the Boni Bill -- with only $4.8 million attached. On March 9, 2007, the Senate passed the Boni Bill -- stripped of all funding.

Without funding, this bill is just a piece of paper. Money is required, in order to hire more workers and create safe visitation centers.

Governor Ernie Fletcher criticized House Democratic Leaders for 'gutting' the Boni Bill, saying, "It took away everything that's important for the safety of social workers and the children they serve."

2.) PROCRASTINATION: The House also wanted to create another task force to study the matter and report back to lawmakers before the 2008 session --- despite the fact that oficials for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services have already worked with lawmakers to develop the original Boni Bill.

As Secretary Mark Birdwhistle stated, "We've already done the research. It's now time for action."

3.) POLITICS: The Kentucky House and Senate became trapped in an impasse over the bill. To fund or not to fund? How much money can be spent on the bill?

An 'untested' idea?
Senate President David Williams opposes visitation centers. He claims that they are an untested idea. He believes that visitation centers will only "create more targets."

Williams should visit The Family Place in Louisville, Kentucky, a visitation center where supervised visits have taken place between parents and children from 1996 to the present date, with no serious incidents.

Rather than visitation centers, Williams advised social workers to request that law enforcement officers accompany them on visits. Will the Cabinet be willing to pay for these officers? Will social workers who refuse to visit homes without an officer run the risk of losing their jobs?

Outcome:
Reason finally won out over politics, as lawmakers pushed the Boni Bill on the last day of the legislative session. The bill passed and is on its way to Gov. Ernie Fletcher to be signed into law.

1.) Instead of $20 million, the measure appropriates $6 million to institute safety procedures, including opening regional visitation centers and hiring additional social workers.

2.) The number of social workers to be hired has dwindled from 200 to 60.

3.) Money was also set aside for other safety measures, such as purchasing two-way radios with panic buttons for all social workers.

The safety of social workers and children shouldn't have a price tag. But in Kentucky, it apparently does...

I just hope that the cost doesn't include another lost life.

To learn more about The Family Place in Louisville, visit:
www.familyplaceky.org

Jim Holler's presentation, The CPS Worker: Making A Case for Safety, is available through free online trainings offered by the National Children's Advocacy Center for child advocates and investigators.

To register for free online classes, please visit:
www.nationalcac.org/professionals/trainings/onlineregister.php

Sources:
Alford, Roger. Bill to protect social workers gains approval. Kentucky Post, March 28, 2007, pg. A13.
Alford, Roger. Lawmakers: Take the danger out of social work. Kentucky Post, Feb. 8, 2007, pg. A14.
Biesk, Joe. Break in session leaves budget items in limbo. Kentucky Post, March 13, 2007, pg. A6.
Bindner-Wooten, Erica. Readers' forum: Safe visitation centers not an experiment. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 14, 2007, pg. A10.
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Adoption bill back on track, sponsor says. Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 22, 2007, pg. B3. NASW News, Vol. 49, No. 4.
O'Neill, John V. Tragedies spark worker-safety awareness. Many think client violence 'won't happen here;' Violence or threats of violence are reasonably common for social workers during their careers.
Schreiner, Bruce. Senate reshapes social worker bill. Kentucky Post, March 10, 2007, pg. A6.
Vos, Sarah. Senate oks revision of Boni Bill; Williams says it's improved - others say its gutted. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 2007, pg. B1.
Vos, Sarah. $2.5 million added to Boni bill -Measure doesn't add social workers. Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. C3.
Yetter, Deborah. Better safety sought for social workers: Bill would also boost numbersLouisville Courier-Journal, Jan. 27, 2007, pg. A1.
Yetter, Deborah and Stephanie Steitzer. Funds stripped from social-work bill; Senate panelcuts $4.8 million. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 9, 2007, pg. B1.
Yetter, Deborah. Impasse remains on social worker protections. Louisville Courier-Journal. March 13, 2007, pg. B4.
Yetter, Deborah and Stephanie Steitzer. Kentucky General Assembly: Senate passes social worker bill; Critics call it useless after money removed. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 10, 2007, pg. B1.
Yetter, Deborah. Panel restores $2.5 million to aid children, social workers. Louisville Courier-Journal, Feb. 23, 2007, pg. B5.
Yetter, Deborah. Visitation centers are tied up in impasse; Legislators still hoping to pass social work bill. Louisville Courier-Journal, March 19, 2007, pg. A1.

Resources to Assist Social Workers

As I mentioned in a previous posting, in April 2006, New York caseworkers received a memo telling them not to discuss, email or post online anything that might reflect poorly on the agency. At the time, I mentioned my concerns that child welfare agencies, which are rather intrusive by nature when it comes to biological and foster families, might be avoiding accountability themselves.

What makes this directive even more interesting to me now is that in the January/February issue of Child Welfare, in-depth interviews of New York and Chicago social workers were published. A high percentage of New York caseworkers had reported poor morale and described their agencies as inadequate. I have to wonder if this prompted the April directive.

In these interviews, social workers were interviewed and asked their views on the child welfare system.

According to the social workers, the child welfare system:
-Does not meet the basic needs of children in care
-Lacks the necessary resources to appropriately serve clients
-Often sets unrealistic / unattainable goals

One caseworker stated that, "The system abuses the kids just as much as the parents do." Other respondees mentioned that foster children were often lost in the system, because there were not enough placement or adoptive resources.

Their overall responses emphasized the need to reform the child welfare system, and to re-evaluate funding priorities.

What might empower social workers to do the best job possible?

1.) Training. Not just initial, but ongoing training is necessary. Custodial cases are complicated. Laws change, policies adapt, inititiatives are created and research reveals new insights into child development and attachment issues. Investing in ongoing training for social workers is vital.

2.) Support: Caseworkers encounter high levels of stress and burnout. They often feel devalued and unappreciated for the work they do. To be effective, caseworkers need the support of their supervisor and coworkers.

3.) Qualified Supervision: Many caseworkers reported unqualified supervisors, unsupportive supervisors or the absence of supervision altogether. Lack of leadership does not promote effectiveness or morale.

4.) Cooperation with Court Personnel: I've mentioned the PEW Commission's recommendations on court proceedings in previous posts. They had mentioned that the adversarial approach of traditional judicial proceedings was detrimental to children in foster care.

Intrasystem contention: One interesting facet that this study revealed was that an adversarial relationship exists between court and child welfare personnel. It's hard to protect the child and facilitate collective decision-making when this type of antagonism between legal staff and child welfare staff is taking place.

Caseworkers also mentioned their frustration regarding:
-Lawyers who come to cases unprepared
-Certain birthparents and their lawyers were adept at manipulating the legal system
-Courts that were too quick to sever custody
-Courts that were too lenient on abusive birthparents and unwilling to sever custody

5.) Resources for Clients: Caseworkers expressed concern about their ability to provide the necessary services for clients.

Part of the social worker's job is to set clear limits for birth parents and provide them with the resources to overcome destructive behavior. However the instruments used to assess families were viewed as inadequate.

In order to comply with their case plan, birth parents are often required to go to multiple agencies, and if those particular trainings are overbooked, it can take up to six months to find a provider.

Reevaluating the job description

Perhaps it's time to examine the requirements of a social worker position.
-The job demands are high.
-Workers juggle high volume caseloads and redundant paperwork.
-Little time is left over to visit the children, focus on their well-being and determine the best outcome.
-Worker turnover and transition often results in lost information or spotty record keeping.

Even for a social worker with conviction, commitment and experience, the frequent lack of technical, administrative and personnel resources can be quite challenging.

We hand these overworked, underpaid individuals our most vulnerable children. We expect them to work miracles - and we demonize them for any evidence of failure. Rather than blaming the workers, we should reexamine the system as whole. And to do that, child welfare personnel should not be bound by any code of silence.

Source: Zell, Maristela. Child welfare workers: Who they are and how they view the child
welfare system. Child Welfare; Jan/Feb2006, Vol. 85 Issue 1, p83-103, 21p

Information: To Share or Not to Share?

I apologize for taking a detour in my study of the recommendations of the PEW Commission, but something has come to my attention...

Two Very Divergent Responses to Sharing Information

1.) Social workers forbidden to share information about the agency where they work.

The New York Administration for Children's Services has just released an Internet Acceptable Use Agreement, dated April 19, 2006.

According to the ACS's Internal Use Agreement:
"City employees must not publicly disclose internal information that many have any negative affect on the City's image."

Anything that a social worker hears, sees or reads in that agency is now regarded as top-secret. Even on their own time and on their own computers, they run the risk of disciplinary action if they share what's really happening.

A different tack might have been:
- To try to promote accountability for the agency.
- To shed light on problems.
- To admit and learn from mistakes (it's called accountability).
- To combat bad press by sharing positive outcomes.

This top-down, fear-motivated approach is designed to effectively shut down communication with "the outside."

2.) Agencies working together to share information about foster parents.

As New York ACS institutes its virtual "gag order," Ohio social work agencies are working together to share information more freely between agencies.

In many ways, this can be a very good thing.

The one thing that makes this issue complex is that there are three categories of allegations that can be made against foster families:

-substantiated
-unsubstantiated
-indicated

When foster parents undergo training, one of the first things that they are told is to expect an allegation to be made against them. It's part of the risk of being a foster parent.

I can see this from both points of view. As a child advocate, my first concern is for the children. They've been through enough already, and do not need to be exposed to additional harm.

However, what about well-meaning, hard-working, innocent foster parents? Should they be forever blacklisted without some form of proof?

It seems wise, in my opinion, to treat allegations differently, based on what category they fall into. However, if a foster family has a series of unsubstiated allegations for the same thing, especially if they come from different foster children, that would be cause for concern.

Seasoned, experienced social workers can differentiate between the different types of allegations. But the field of social work has a high turnover rate.

Let's say that a trainee makes a bad call about blacklisting a foster family. Will that poor choice ever be recognized and rectified by the agency? Or, will they just seek to avoid liability and rationalize that decision?

The troubling message that is sent by these two very different approaches is that:

While social work agencies might have the right to privacy, foster parents do not.

Foster families who have a grievance against an agency have limited options available:

- They can appeal the decision.
- They can file a grievance against the agency.
- Other than that, their only recourse is to transfer to another agency.

So, for example, if Agency A makes a bad call, their libel of that foster family would hypothetically be shared with Agency B. Assuming that this foster family is innocent, what can the foster family do in their own defense?

Not much. They can't file charges for libel. Why? Because the agency has immunity.

Now, that's troubling.