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DSS updates public on its child and family programs

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

COLUMBIA COUNTY — The County Child Protective Services has seen a dramatic increase in the number of calls to the State Central Registry this year. Social Services Commissioner Paul Mossman said more than 600 calls were made in the first six months, and projected the total reports received in 2008 would be around 1,200, compared to a yearly average of 850 to 900.

This was among the revelations made during a public hearing on the annual update for the 2007-2009 Title 20 Child and Family Services Plan at the DSS Building, 25 Railroad Ave., Monday.

New York state requires the department to develop three-year child and family services plans and to review their progress at annual public hearings. The current plan started Jan. 1, 2007 and ends Dec. 31, 2009.

Mossman, who gave the Register-Star a summary of the hearing’s highlights, said the State Central Registry, or child abuse hotline, is called when individuals in a community have information about suspected abuse or neglect. The registry assesses the information and determines whether it requires CPS to conduct an investigation.

Mossman attributed the increased calls to the central registry to a state-mandated expanded reporting law, plus training the county has provided to service providers, law enforcement agencies and other organizations.

If there are two agencies working with the same child, such as the school district and the Mental Health Department, both have to make reports, Mossman said, so that contributes to the increase in reporting.

“More and more people are being identified as mandated reporters,” he said. “And/or, I believe because of our outreach and public education, people are more aware of abuse and neglect.”

Attendees at the hearing also heard from CPS about the Child Advocacy Center at Columbia Memorial Hospital, up and running for the last couple years, which is taking a multidisciplinary approach to reporting sexual abuse.

At the center, Mossman said, “we can provide a team approach and provide services and do investigations at the same time, with the District Attorney’s Office, law enforcement, counseling and medical support. We’re excited about that.”

He said an overarching theme this year was evidenced-based outcomes and practices, which applies to all of the department’s programs. An example is another new project at CPS, the Child Fatality Review Team, which, Mossman said, reviews all unexplained children’s deaths, looking at trends, and talks about strategies to address issues surrounding the deaths of children.

The team was born from a grant made available to all the districts in New York.

The team, composed of representatives from all child service providers and county agencies, including the county coroner and the Health Department, looks at trends such as infant deaths from co-sleeping and lead poisoning, and ways that outreach and education could address and help to reduce them.

CPS is also currently participating in a technology program that involves using wireless laptop computers for field work and by attorneys in court.

“This is for efficiencies, the accurate reporting of field notes,” Mossman said, “to maximize the use of down time people have by allowing them to complete their case worker activities.”

Following Child Protective Services, the meeting was turned over to Child and Family Services, and attendees heard about foster care. Mossman told the Register-Star the county has been “quite successful in finalizing adoptions.” Last year, more than 30 were finalized, and this year, he said, “we’re on pace to complete 20, and have identified additional children to finalize by the end of the year.”

The goal, he said, is to minimize the amount of time children spend in foster care by identifying early on a goal, such as discharge to the original family or to another resource, terminating parental rights to facilitate adoption, or identifying the child for independent living.

This was not unrelated to the PINS Diversion Plan, which was born from 2006 state legislation requiring school districts to put forth efforts before making PINS — person in need of supervision — referrals to the Probation Department.

The Assessment Consultation and Prevention Program was initiated by the Departments of Mental Health, Probation and Social Services to identify potential PINS referrals and engage the family at that stage.

The Intensive After Care Program identifies high-risk families and provides intensive case management for them, Mossman said.

“These are programs and a way to keep children from being placed in foster care or residential facilities, keep them in communities and provide wraparound services so as to minimize the need for placement,” he said.

Working with Mental Health, family courts and alcohol and abuse treatment providers, Child and Family Services is also preparing for the introduction of the youth drug court in 2009. It will provide more intensive oversight of children identified with substance abuse and alcohol-related issues, Mossman said.

Next up was day care services. Despite cutbacks on state block grant allocations, the county “continues to provide a somewhat generous benefit service to all our informal and formal day care providers,” Mossman told the Register-Star. “We’re still in a position to provide this service — we don’t have a waiting list like other counties.”

The final presentation was by Adult and Family Services. Mossman said the court often appoints him the guardian of person who have become incapacitated and have no family or other support. The problem is that he then becomes responsible for end-of-life decisions without having the necessary information to make those decisions.

“We’re making a concerted effort to get our directives in place, which will assist us when end-of-life decisions have to be made,” Mossman said. “We’ll work with family and friends who can help us put those directives in place.”

The commissioner stressed how grateful he is to the department’s staff, “how proud I am of the way they perform their jobs. They are to be commended for their hard work, commitment and dedication in meeting the needs of our community. They’re a great group of people with a lot on their plate.”

To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.

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