Problems With County Child Abuse Hotline

Re “Child Abuse Reports Swamp County System,” Jan. 11:

Problems with a statewide computerized case-management system in the summer and fall, coupled with high caseloads, did result in delays in answering the child abuse hotline. Most of these issues have been resolved, and currently on average calls are answered in five to 20 seconds.

The Department of Children and Family Services follows state law in screening hotline calls. State law mandates that DCFS initiate an emergency response when statutorily valid child abuse and neglect are alleged. The state regulation screens out or consolidates calls in which child abuse and neglect are not alleged; information from a collateral contact entirely invalidates the allegation; prior allegations from the same reporter were investigated and found to be unfounded and there are no new risk factors; we are already investigating or servicing the family; or there is no way to locate the child.

DCFS is very conservative in its application of the state law (AB 60) and, as the article indicates, finds it applicable in about 24% of calls as compared with 38.1% for the rest of the state. The article’s use of 1989 data is not helpful, since this was the year that the state took back millions of dollars due to false case counts and was before AB 60 was passed in 1991.

There is no question that DCFS caseworkers could investigate cases more fully and provide more services if they had more workable caseloads. It is an amazing tribute to the dedication of our children’s social workers that DCFS is able to comply with state standards despite rising caseloads and limited resources.

PETER DIGRE, Director

L.A. County DCFS

* As a former children’s social worker for DCFS, it was great to read your article. It is about time that the public knows how dysfunctional the child protective service really is.

All of the social workers and their supervisors love the children and the families they serve. However, the job has been reduced to paperwork and meeting minimal requirements, and not social work. One former supervisor told me, before resigning, “I don’t believe in the system anymore.” A sad statement coming from a woman who had dedicated herself to the safety of our society’s children and the integrity of our nation’s families.

Now that I am out of the system, I am ever more amazed how I and all my former colleagues survived the daily battles.

DERRICK TAN

San Gabriel