Our View

Our View

Arkansas foster care program in a state of crisis

Let’s admit the fact that, yet another study, labels our state’s foster care system is a crisis should come as no real surprise and, although Arkansas spends a whopping $91.5 million to operate the Division of Children and Family Services where there are over 1,000 employees it is being said there is a need for at least $20 million more and an additional 200 employees.

So, what is this really telling us? Well, for the first time this year this agency is currently taking care of 5,200 children, a sad and serious situation caused by poverty, drugs and child abuse.

This is clearly an intolerable set of circumstances that is going to take the unified and unconditional cooperation of not only the governor but also lawmakers, the state Department of Human Services, law enforcement and particularly all the judges who deal with juvenile and domestic cases.

After all, we’re dealing with children in need who must not be used as pawns due to inept leadership, power struggles, egos or ignorance on the part of decision- making bureaucrats.

Cindy Gillespie, hired by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to solve the enormous problems within the DHS, says the changes she is proposing are aimed at improving quality of work and decreasing turnover among agency employees, as well as solving the situation where caseworkers are removing more children from homes immediately upon investigation and judges ordering removals against the recommendation of caseworkers.

It is the consensus of the experts studying this problem that at least 22 percent of child removals are “potentially” unnecessary.

Gillespie said she and others looking into the problem are of the opinion that there is an issue with the number of exits than entrances into the foster care system.

For instance, from 2007 to 2015, more children entered the foster care system in four of the seven years. Over the same period, the number of children leaving foster care was higher in seven of the nine years.

One of the problems is the number of children leaving foster care is not keeping pace with the number of children entering because caseworkers can’t keep up with the workload.

It was certainly sad to learn that in Arkansas has a caseload at about double the national average.

As we’ve pointed out numerous times that the poverty level in Arkansas is a major contributor to not only child abuse, neglect, drugs, adult violence, prison overcrowding and a tremendous dependence upon government subsidies, such as food stamps, free health care and scores of other government handouts.

Until there are some significant progress made to better train, educate and provide reasonable jobs that will address the over 250,000 Arkansans now eligible for the state’s version of Obamacare this problem and all the others associated with it will be extremely difficult to resolve.

The lives, welfare and well-being our these children who are dealing with circumstances well beyond their control are, without question, a major priority.