10:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 21, 2004

By TERRI LANGFORD / The Dallas Morning News

More than 500 children in Texas died of abuse or neglect over a 2 �-year period, and more than a quarter of them had been previously investigated by the state's Child Protective Services, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

Of the 509 abuse and neglect deaths reported by county, CPS caseworkers visited 137 of the children at least once before they died to determine whether abuse or neglect allegations reported to the agency were true.

Caseworkers were able to confirm the allegations in 57 of those 137 cases, according to the CPS statistics. The agency could not immediately say whether the children died of the same type of abuse and neglect as CPS workers first investigated.

While Texas releases a variety of data annually on child fatalities, these statistics provide the public its first snapshot as to how often CPS workers know a child may be in danger before that child dies of abuse and neglect. The agency released child abuse and neglect fatality data from Sept. 1, 2001, to May 31, 2004 – figures that it said were the most current available – in response to a public records request from The News.

"It is significant. It's disturbing," said state Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, who is chairman of the Texas House Committee on Human Services. "It's too many kids."

Child Protective Services says it investigates all credible reports of abuse or neglect. A caseworker determines whether an abuse allegation can be confirmed through physical evidence and interviews with the parties involved. But if a child denies the abuse and there's no physical evidence to support the allegation, an investigator has to note that the report was unsubstantiated, agency spokesman Geoffrey Wool said.

There are about 6 million children in Texas. Of those, the agency says 50,208 were confirmed to have been abused or neglected in fiscal 2003, Mr. Wool said.

"But whether it's 137 or one death, one is too many," he said. "We're in the business of protecting children, and if we have even one child who has died of abuse or neglect, we've been aware of something in the past that would have been an indicator we need to tighten up our work and do what we can to ensure those children are protected."

Lawrence Jenkins / DMN The state's 780 child abuse investigators handle an average of more than 50 cases a month. National groups have recommended a maximum of 15 to 18 cases.

According to the CPS data, of the 509 child abuse deaths reported:

17 children died from abuse or neglect on the day they were born;

60 percent of all deaths involved children younger than 2;

Those who died ranged in age from newborns to a child living in Harris County who was one month shy of 18;

Deaths occurred in 99 of the state's 254 counties.

Houston's Harris County – the state's most populous – ranked No. 1 in child deaths for the period reported, with 106 child abuse deaths. Dallas County ranked a distant second with 42 child abuse deaths. Fort Worth's Tarrant County was third with 27 deaths, followed by Edinburg's Hidalgo County, one of the state's poorest, with 24 deaths. San Antonio's Bexar County ranked fifth, with 23 children dead.

Scott McCowan, director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a Texas research group that advocates for children and the poor, said the statistics pose even bigger questions.

"Would it be better if children were dying that our system had never identified as being at risk, or would it be better if the system is at least identifying them at risk and doing something even though it turns out to be ineffective?" he said. "I don't know if it's reassuring that the department at least knew about these families, or whether it's troubling."

One problem, Mr. McCowan said, is that the number of confirmed abuse allegations has dropped significantly in Texas, as well as nationwide. In 1985, he said, 56 percent of all abuse allegations in Texas were confirmed. In 2003, the number of confirmed abuse allegations dropped to 25 percent.

He said abuse investigators today confirm only the most serious cases because there are too many to investigate fully.

"If a detective has more work than he can do, he's going to give the most attention to the most serious cases. He's not able to confirm crime except where crime undoubtedly occurred. And, as a result, his clearance rate is going to drop, and that's exactly what you see with the Department" of Family and Protective Services, he said.

The state's 780 child abuse investigators handle an average of more than 50 cases a month. National groups have recommended a maximum of 15 to 18 cases.

The average annual salary of an entry-level CPS caseworker is $29,000. Last year, turnover among entry-level CPS caseworkers was twice the national average.

The Department of Family and Protective Services, which includes CPS, Adult Protective Services, child-care licensing, adoption and foster care, has an annual budget of about $900 million.

Staff writer Jennifer LaFleur contributed to this report.

E-mail tlangford@dallasnews.com

Online at: http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/092204dnmetabusedeaths.5d6cc.html

Expert faults Texas child protection system

State fails to comply on six of seven standards in federal report

08:20 PM CDT on Monday, September 6, 2004

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO – A Pennsylvania child welfare expert says the Texas child protection system "is an accident looking for a place to happen."

Richard Gelles, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, said he sees a number of what he calls "warning indicators" in the Texas system.

Dr. Gelles said the federal government's figures on Texas compiled in 2002 and released this year showed that the instances of abuse reported and confirmed, as well as the number of children re-abused, are trending upward. The report measures seven specific outcomes, and Texas was out of compliance in six of the seven. No state met all the federal standards.

The report said Texas Child Protective Services did not make sufficient efforts to reduce the risk of harm; failed to provide stable placements for children in foster care; did not place removed children with their siblings when appropriate; and failed to preserve removed children's connections to their family, faith, community and culture.

The federal report also said that Texas caseworkers often carry 56 cases while federal accreditation standards call for 12-18 cases per caseworker.

Texas has the nation's largest population of children and is 48th in per capita capital expenditures.

CPS spokesman Geoff Wool said in Monday's San Antonio Express-News that the organization has initiated some of the recommended fixes. CPS also is considering other changes, including hiring more caseworkers and providing more training.

Although the report doesn't indicate the penalties the Texas system could be assessed, legislators fear that fewer federal dollars may come to the state.

About 20 percent of Texas children live below federal poverty levels, and the incidence of children being re-abused is a longer-term indicator "that the crisis in Texas is getting worse, and without addressing work force issues, it will not improve," Mr. Gelles said. The national average of children younger than 18 living in poverty is 15 percent. In Texas, that rate is more than 21 percent.

Most bothersome, Mr. Gelles said, is that the number of children dying in the state from abuse or neglect rose nearly 17 percent during the three-year period studied.

A number of high-profile deaths statewide, including the starvation and beating deaths of three San Antonio children, triggered an investigation into the agency.

Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, who as chairman of the House Human Services Committee has oversight of the agency, has said it has massive systemwide problems that require immediate attention and a substantial increase in funding to hire more caseworkers.

Mr. Uresti said he plans to use the statewide probe's findings to introduce fixes when the Legislature convenes in January.

Madeline McClure, director of Tex Protects, a division of the Prevent Child Abuse Texas program, faulted the action of legislators, who eliminated all the agency's prevention programs last year.