DCYF reform: Agency needs more than money

DCYF reform: Agency needs more than money | New Hampshire:

New Hampshire’s Division of Children, Youth and Families needs help. Social workers have been overwhelmed by a flood of cases related to the state’s ongoing opioid crisis.
But lawmakers need to do more than throw money at the problem.

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Reforming DCYF and funding it need to be considered together. Lawmakers need to create a culture of accountability at the agency tasked with protecting New Hampshire children.

CPS Caseworker Turnover Reduced After State Gives $140 Million For Pay Raises

CPS Caseworker Turnover Reduced After State Gives $140 Million For Pay Raises | Texas Standard:

These days, it’s easier for the state’s child welfare agency to hold onto employees.That’s after a December 2016 infusion of more than $140 million of emergency funding into the state’s long-struggling child protective services system.

Social worker said it was harder to find adoption homes for babies that have been CHRISTENED

Social worker said it was harder to find adoption homes for babies that have been CHRISTENED:

A COUNCIL social worker who told a couple they would struggle to find an adoptive home for their baby if he was christened has been slammed by a judge.

The worker had told the parents that they would “reduce the pool of possible adopters” by christening their baby boy into the Christian faith.

N.H. Judge Rules Against DCYF

N.H. Judge Rules Against DCYF:

A New Hampshire Superior Court judge has sided with a family suing the state child protection agency in a ruling that could pave the way to making confidential abuse and neglect records open to the public.

“The court finds defendants’ interests in maintaining confidentiality in this case is motivated purely by their own self-interest in minimizing public exposure of their alleged errors,” Judge Gillian Abramson wrote in an order released on Thursday.

Former DCYF social worker says blame is misplaced

Former DCYF social worker says blame is misplaced | New Hampshire:

CONCORD - Ashley Rossiter realized her lifelong dream of becoming a social worker when she joined the state's child protective services department in 2013.

The challenge in assessing agency’s work

The challenge in assessing agency’s work:
It's almost impossible for the public to get information about what the State does or how Judges rule in child abuse and neglect proceedings. The records are all kept confidential. Even talking about what happens inside the hearing can result in a misdemeanor charge.

Fatal flaws – Part 1 of 4: Inside the last year of Brielle Gage’s life

Fatal flaws – Part 1 of 4: Inside the last year of Brielle Gage’s life:

The 911 call came in just past 11:30 a.m. Nashua police sped to a beige house on Oak Street and found 3-year-old Brielle Gage lying unconscious, face-up on the bathroom floor, her skin gray and her blue eyes half open. Brielle’s 4-year-old brother watched as a police officer began performing chest compressions on her limp, bruised body.