In the News...
Hearing today to review child protective services
Friday, April 16 2010
Coloradoan.com
By Nate Taylor
April 16, 2010
The first of two legislative hearings specifically designed to review the child protective services through the Colorado Department of Human Services, and the conduct of DHS employees, will take place today at the state Capitol.
An oversight committee was created last month by Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, to look into how state DHS employees "dropped" 10 investigations of children who died in 2008 while under some level of DHS supervision.
The committee will review those cases, as well as the status of recommendations about child welfare services made by the Child Welfare Action Committee, established by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008.
Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, chairwoman of the oversight committee, said all 29 recommendations the child welfare committee made will be reviewed by the oversight panel.
"We'll hear testimony from the advocates, the providers, the public, the county and the state," Newell said "Each of those perspectives is important to see systemically where are the clogs and what are some possible solutions that we can come up with."
Newell said the review will be valuable for lawmakers and the goal would be to decide if there is legislation that could be implemented this year or next.
"I don't know that we're going to come up with changes that haven't been made by the Child Welfare Acton Committee, Newell said, "but we could have some new testimony that could come up that would be more current."
Fort Collins Democratic Rep. John Kefalas is vice chairman of the committee and said he also hopes to address systemic issues.
"I hope this will shed light on what are some of the systemic things we need to continue to push to change, and I hope it will also show what we are doing well," he said.
The bipartisan legislative panel was formed after a series of Coloradoan reports revealed that the 10 child fatality reviews were not completed in the six to eight months they should have been.
"I have a pretty long list of questions that relate to the issues about the child fatality review reports," Kefalas said, adding he didn't get to ask all his questions when DHS Executive Director Karen Beye testified before the House Health and Human Services committee last month.
The 10 reviews all involved children younger than 4 who were under some level of DHS supervision when they died. Chad Munoz died Feb. 1, 2008, in Fort Collins after just 20 days of life.
The investigations are done to identify any mistakes made by county DHS officials and to prevent them from being repeated.
The incomplete reports about the 10 deaths were brought to light after a Coloradoan investigation discovered e-mails revealing a critical state agency in disarray.
The paper requested the e-mails in March after the agency admitted for the first time that it had failed to complete the Munoz fatality review.
The documents revealed state DHS officials learned in early January that the agency had failed to complete many of the child fatality reviews from 2008. The e-mails revealed some of the agency's top officials were unsure of the status of many of the reviews or even the location of some of them.
Other legislators serving on the oversight committee include Reps. Sara Gagliardi, D-Arvada, and BJ Nikkel, R-Loveland, and Sens. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood and Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to testify today. Kefalas said he anticipates a long list of people who will want to speak, especially given his experience considering Senate Bill 171. That legislation was introduced by Newell and would create an independent ombudsman office to oversee DHS's child protective services.
The bill passed in the Senate earlier this month and advanced out of the House Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday with a unanimous vote.
The creation of the ombudsman's office was one of the 29 recommendations made to the governor by the Child Welfare Action Committee.
