CPS reports, 2000 July - August

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REPORTS

CPS Across Cultures

July/August 2000

As Georgia's Hispanic population increases, their level of involvement with child welfare is also increasing. For example, in 1997, 632 Hispanic children suffered abuse or neglect;
the number rose to 843 in 1999. DFCS' few Spanish-speaking
staff members agree that abuse

and neglect cross cultural lines and that Hispanic families who become clients have similar needs to other clients, including parenting education, financial assistance and child care.
However, there are differences. And they become apparent when
the report is being investigated.

Fulton Supervisor Jaime Velasquez says, "Many families are here illegally so we have to spend a lot of time reassuring them that we are not from Immigration."
Also, most families are unfamiliar with a government agency protecting children, since none of the Latin countries have such a system.
"We must explain that there are laws in this country about what parents can or cannot do to their children," Velasquez says.
Hall County Case Manager Claudia Valencia agrees and explains that allowing children to stay by themselves or play outside
Continued on page 4

CPS investigator Zunilda Tejeda (R) consults frequently with supervisor Jaime Velasquez as they serve Fulton's Spanish-speaking population.

Special Promotion
Those of you who ordered the door hangers for children's rooms should have received them by now.
Please do not begin the giveaway until after we send a media packet in mid-August. We are planning the promotion for September which is national Child Health Month.

Radio Saves Case Manager

Inside

Georgia C.A.R.E.S.

Radio Saves
Case Manager
Back before Christmas last year, DFCS started distributing twoway radios to CPS field staff. As it turns out, that was just in time for a worker in Henry County.
County Director Phyllis Shrader sent a memo to Juanita BlountClark describing what happened:
"A service radio may have saved the life of a Henry County worker. On June 13, she was on her way to make a home visit to request a drug screen. At the same time a CPS supervisor was talking to a police officer when she overheard a police radio message saying 911 had received a call from a person indicating a friend had called her and said, When the DFCS worker comes to my house today, I'm going to kill her then kill myself .
"The friend called 911 and gave the address of the person making the threat. When the supervisor heard it, she immediately got on her radio and advised any worker in route to the address to stop and respond. The case manager was almost at the client's house when she received the call and turned back.
"When the police arrived at the client's home, they found her with three loaded guns, including a sawed-off shotgun and two hidden knives. The client was hospitalized immediately and her two children placed in DFCS custody."
Use your radios. folksT

Georgia C.A.R.E.S.

Doctors have always talked to each other. Now they can do it with electrons, said Dr.

Randell Alexander. According to

Alexander, the telemedicine project,

Ga. C.A.R.E.S. (Child Abuse

Resource and Evaluation System) ,

should be up and running by fall

2000. Georgia is the third state in

the nation, after Florida and New

Jersey, to set up a system like this.

Funded in part by a $200,000

grant from DFCS, the project will

allow physicians to consult with

other child abuse specialists on

physical and sexual ~buse cases.

The more accurate diagnoses

expected from these consults will

benefit both CPS and the courts-

and ultimately the children who

have been harmed.

Seven cities will have telemedi-

cine hookups initially. They include

Atlanta with two sites (Hughes

Spalding Children's Hospital and

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta) ,

Rome, Augusta, Savannah, Valdosta

and Macon. Plans are for a state-

wide network of 12 centers to be

operating within the next two to

three years.

.

"This way all the abuse cases m

the state could be seen in these

hospitals that are linked through

the network," Alexander said.

Each center will be staffed with one to five forensic pediatricians who are trained to recognize physical and sexual abuse. Alexander notes that having specialists available is necessary because studies have shown that many pediatricians or other physicians do not recognize signs of abuse. "We can't know everything," he commented.
CPS staff can bring case records, pictures or the children themselves to center doctors . In turn, the physicians, using the computer network, can talk one on one to a colleague in another city or ask the whole network to look at a case.
I think the public and professionals too often look to DFCS to do it all. It can't, and it never has - in any of the 50 states.
Dr. Randell Alexander
Alexander praises DFCS for its foresight in backing the idea. "DFCS folks have been encouraging and helpful since we first began meeting over a year ago," he said.
He spoke forcefully about the need for other professionals outs!de of DFCS to involve themselves with child abuse. "They need to do their share, and that's what we physicians are trying to do with this network by offering a solid medical backbone to child protection."

D Melba Johnson checkfior signs of abuse. Dr. Alexander and colleague r.

Revi~wi~g
Invest1gat1ons
Sometimes the best ideas come to you in the shower, according to Ben Hill DFCS Director Gary Smith. That's where he thought up the idea of forming a group to meet regularly to discuss CPS cases.
As a result, the county now has a child investigation review team which has met weekly in Fitzgerald since March to help CPS staff make determinations on cases under investigation.
"I thought that the team approach would give us a broader perspective and information about the family we may not be aware of," Smith said.
The initial team included the school social worker, the head nurse from the hospital, a detective from the sheriff's office, DFCS' social services supervisor and Smith. The assistant district attorney, who is based in Cordele, heard about the group and asked if she and the office's child abuse investigator could join.
"This helps the assistant D.A. to get an upfront look at a case that may be coming her way, and it adds yet another viewpoint in our discussions," Smith commented.
At each meeting, a CPS investigator presents a case. It is then discussed until the group decides whether to substantiate the report. Since Ben Hill is a small area, 60 to 70 percent of the reports so far have been on families known to at least one person in the group.
"This really gives us more input and a more open way to make a determination than when we decided these things internally," Smith said. "It's also gives me as director a better perspective on CPS."

County Child Investigation Review Team Protocol
Purpose The review team is to insure timeliness, accuracy and fairness of a CPS investigation prior to the completion of the investigation.
It will allow for a mandatory review by sources other than solely by DFCS and determination that the agency is acting properly and in good faith in the best interest of the child.
It will strengthen the decision made by DFCS to substantiate or unsubstantiate a case.
It will allow for a review of cases that have been screened out for investigation.
Panel The panel, in addition to the chairperson, shall be comprised of a child abuse investigator from the Ben Hill County Sheriff's Department, child abuse investigator from DFCS, a medical professional (head emergency room nurse at Dorminy Medical Center), Supervisor of the Ben Hill DFCS Services Unit, and a counselor from the Ben Hill County School System and representatives from the District Attorney's Office.
The permanent chairperson of the panel shall be the DFCS County Director. The chair will attend to all matters necessary to the convening, selection, and orientation of the members of the review team . In the absence of the county director, the services supervisor shall serve as temporary chair.
Meetings Meetings shall be scheduled on Thursdays at 11 :00 am. The worker investigating the allegation shall be present to give testimony on behalf of the agency.
Conduct The worker investigating the allegation shall make all recordings of the proceedings for official entry into the case file.
If an investigation is being conducted on a member of the panel's family, close friend, or co-worker, the panel member is obligated to disclose that information to avoid a possible breach.
All panel members are bound by the rules that protect the identity of the reporter.
Releases and other participants Confidentiality of these proceedings shall be covered by the blanket confidentiality agreement of the Ben Hill County Child Abuse Protocol.
The review team shall have the right and responsibility to invite or require other individuals to be present at the reviews as is deemed appropriate .
-Developed by Ben HjlJ Coun0J DFCS.

3

"CPS Across Cultures," Cont. from page I
unsupervised for long periods is quite common for Hispanics in their homeland. "Or they may say, 'in my country I can use the belt on my children'," she says. "Then r explain that they must change their behavior here ."
Despite the growing Hispanic population, Spanish-speaking CPS workers are a rarity. Velasquez, who is one of only two CPS staffers in Fulton who speaks Spanish, says he's been urging the hiring of more bi-lingual workers in Fulton for years. But Hall County Director Amanda Hall says they are very hard to find because people who speak both English and Spanish are in high demand in other fields. "Claudia is our first Spanish-speaking caseworker in years, so I'm really pleased to have her," she says.

"I would like to help the community"

In her homeland of Colombia, Claudia Valencia studied social sciences and literature at the university and taught school for IO years. But after seven years in the United States she found herself with no job, no money and a small child to support. In desperation, she walked in the door
of Hall County DFCS one day last year. "I told the eligibility worker, 'Help me, please. When I find a job I'll come
and tell you because r don't want this (welfare) in my background."' When the worker asked the kind of work she wanted, Valencia replied,
"I would like to help the community." He instructed her to bring him documentation of her education and previous employment in Colombia. Meanwhile, he processed her TANF application. After only two months of
receiving benefits, Valencia was offered the type of work she wanted so badly. The offer came from DFCS, where she has worked as a CPS case manager for the last six months.
"I was inside a closet and God opened the door with the worker's hand," she says. "This is from God that I came to DFCS." Carrying a caseload of 38, Valencia doesn't have a lot of time to go over the past because she is committed to helping her clients overcome their troubles as she has.
"There are many people like me out there who love this country and want to help build it," she comments.

With a caseload of38, Claudia Valencia must cover a Jot ofground every day.

The state unit recently had Jaim e Velasquez translate the four CPS case determination letters sent to clients into Spanish. A manual transmittal went out last month
containing copies of the letters. Counties have been instructed to have one person only request the electronic transmittal for the letters so they can keep it on their own computer. You can request this from Rebecca
Jarvis at 404-657-3414 or GO-mail rejmvis.

FYI
Bob Barnes, a former consultant in the state CPS unit, died in June. He will be missed by many, among them C&E unit chief Sarah Brownlee. "He was one of those delightful people you enjoyed having around and he had a passion for children," she said.

REPORTS
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