Something is Wrong, and it Just isn’t Right

Caseworkers Shine a Light on DHS
 Something is Wrong, and it Just isn’t Right

By Alisha Mason
December 5, 2017

On Oct. 5, 2017 News 9 in Oklahoma City reported the death of a 10-year old girl, Shaquality Cox. In the News 9 report, an Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) District Director overrode the supervisor’s decision to have placed Cox in her aunt’s care, against the wishes of the supervisor. Cox was in respiratory distress for three hours before receiving medical attention; by then, it was too late. 

Cox was living with her aunt as a kinship placement. Kinship placements happen when a child is removed from their home and some close relative steps in so that the child does not have to go directly into foster care. 

After Cox died, OKDHS District Director reprimanded supervisor Heidi (last name undisclosed) for following orders by placing Cox in that home.
"We recommended that we removed the children because of the history of the family."

Rochelle McCullough-Mason, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, (LCSW), former CSW of Cache, Okla, said that kinship placements are usually the first thing a worker decides in the best interest of the child. At some point, to properly run a foster home, people who decide to become foster parents must complete 27 hours of foster parent training classes, submit home study evaluations and pass background checks.

When the relatives step in to take custody of a child, it is a sigh of relief to the caseworker. It is a temporary solution that buys some time before they must find suitable homes. Mason said that most kinship placements do not get properly processed as they should. Children can be placed for months before the worker starts working on the case and more time goes by while they are working. Anything can happen while this process is under way.

When there is no immediate placement, children are placed in group homes, shelters and other institutions. While foster kids are in shelters, their caseworkers know that their kids are safe and do not check on them as often as they are required. Many children feel as if being put in the system is their fault and everyone, including their workers, forgets about them.

There is no minimum or maximum number of cases a worker is supposed to have. Mason said that the minimum cases she has handled at one time is 16. At the maximum, she has had to handle 30 cases. That is a lot of cases for any worker to handle; however, she was able to check on her children when scheduled and they always had her contact information. Work came first. For some workers, work does not come first.

Mariah Vargas 18, was another person who recently exited the foster care system. Vargas remembers entering care at age 7 and when she turned 18, she aged out after a placement did not work. She also remembers having multiple Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) workers and about 20 caseworkers. No kinship placements were available for Vargas and her brothers and as they got older they were not able to live in the same home.

Vargas said that CASA workers were available, but she never got her basic needs met.
“When I did get to see my worker, I would ask about small things like new clothes, personal hygiene items, and they would tell me that they would bring them to me next time.”
Often, she felt that she was not included in the decisions that were made about her case. Vargas remembers her shortest placement lasting two months and longest placement was about three years.

Here are just a few of the statistics.

According to the 2016 DHS Annual report, there are currently 143,404 children in foster care. And that is only in Oklahoma. Of those 143,000, 15,187 were confirmed victims of abuse and neglect. Shaquality Cox, Mariah Vargas and her brothers were counted in these numbers.

Each year, the statistics continue to fluctuate. For example, during the 2012 fiscal year, 5,430 children entered out of home care. By the end of the year, there were 8,843. Just last year, 5,143 children entered care, and at the end of the year, that number was up to 9,964.

FosterClub.com states that every two minutes a child is placed into foster care. One thing that we try to get kids to understand is that being taken into custody is never the child’s fault. Parents make decisions that have lasting effects on children from years to come.

In 2015, 1,098 new foster homes have been opened and 2,244 children have been adopted. Child Welfare League of America 2010.

 “Foster care” has been around for years. This past decade has been full of children having children and not knowing how to raise or take care of them. Most of these parents in this generation want to have children when they are fresh out of high school or still in high school. Being young, they feel that they want to still have a life and these poor kids are not being raised by their parents. The grandparents or other relatives then feel the need to step in to avoid the children being put into the system, and so it begins.

Children are removed from their home and placed into foster care because they are not left alone properly. “The focus of OKDHS CWS is to respond to situations where children are reported to be unsafe or at risk of harm.” -Human Source Commission.

Jami Ledoux interviewed with News 9 on Nov. 30 giving information but not directly answering the questions as to why DHS workers feel as if their caseloads are overwhelming. Attention is being drawn to the quality assurance team that is supposed to be in place, making sure that each case is being properly handled within the 30 to 60 day time frame.

Workers are coming forward saying that they cannot and do not know if all of the children on their workload are being taken care of nor do they know the status of most of their cases. Coming forth with this information may have put their jobs in jeopardy, and still, no one has answers. 

http://m.news9.com/story.aspx?story=36684613&catld=112032 

http://www.news9.com/clip/13946796/web-extra-dhs-responds-to-workers-allegations

http://www.news9.com/story/36968415/9-investigates-dhs-workers-blow-whistle-on-child-protective-services

Success! Your submission appears on this page. The submission confirmation number is 54faed04-c953-475c-ace7-84442fd2227d. Copy and save this number as proof of your submission.