South Carolina DSS Audit to Begin in January or February 2013 UPDATED

“Reports of children starved to death, sexually abused for months and dying of treatable illness prompted a local legislator Monday [November 26, 2012]  to call for an audit of the state Department of Social Services.

“I represent all the children of this state. It’s a systemic problem that needs to be addressed,” said state Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Summerville.
Horne called on the Legislative Audit Council to take a closer look at how DSS manages cases involving at-risk children. On Monday, the council agreed in a unanimous vote during a meeting in Charleston.

Although the audit will look at a number of concerns at DSS, the request for it focuses extensively on child safety.

“This is really more of a look at Child Protective Services,” Horne said.

Her concerns are based on constituent complaints about how cases involving children in harmful situations have been managed.

“We’ve had way too many dead children lately,” she said. “Children of this state are being placed at great risk.”

Horne said she discussed her concerns with DSS leaders, and they have shown a willingness to work with her to address her worries. The last audit of the agency was in 2006, she said.

“I think they (DSS) need another look,” she said. “Where there is smoke there is fire.”

More than 30 members of the state House Republican Caucus, including Horne, expressed concerns about child protection in South Carolina in a three-page letter to the council.

The letter asks whether federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to child protective services are being followed by county DSS offices. It seeks information on children who died from abuse and/or neglect during a DSS investigation. It also asks for a review of cases initially deemed unfounded by DSS but later found to involve child abuse and/or neglect.

In addition, caucus members who signed the letter want details of cases that were closed after a child was placed with a relative of a family under investigation. The letter cites an instance in which a child was placed by DSS with a registered sex offender who abused the youngster for 15 months. It also raised concerns about a child admitted to a hospital instead of being placed in a safe home.

“Why does the DSS fail to utilize these resources when a child is at risk of trauma?” the letter asks.

After hearing from Horne, council Vice Chairman Mallory Factor of Charleston made a motion to approve the DSS audit. Council member S. Jahue Moore of Lexington said he “wholeheartedly” endorsed the audit.

The audit will begin in January or February, officials said.

DSS spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said the agency would not be able to comment on plans for the audit until today.

DSS Director Lillian Koller said on the department website that it has eliminated a backlog of nearly 25,000 child abuse and neglect reports pending for 60 days or longer.

She also cites an agency goal to reduce the number of children who experience maltreatment within six months of an investigation in which allegations of abuse or neglect are determined to be unfounded. The number of children in that category needed to fall from 700 to no more than 446 by Sept. 30 of this year, she said.

“While DSS is meeting or exceeding all of the child safety measures imposed by the federal government, there is real cause for concern in an area that the federal government does not measure. By adopting this child safety measure, DSS is now leading the nation in this area,” she said.

The caucus letter seeks a particular focus in the audit on a sample of county DSS offices and how child neglect and/or abuse cases were handled from 2006 to 2012. Other areas of concern include employee and caseworker training as it relates to child welfare.

The lawmakers also seek information about complaints caucus members have received regarding bidding for group home contracts and federal penalties imposed on DSS.

The Legislative Audit Council conducts independent, objective performance audits of state agencies and programs. Its purpose is to assist the General Assembly and the public in determining whether state agencies are efficiently, effectively and lawfully managing public resources and meeting their intended objectives.”

DSS, child protective services will be audited in light of safety concerns

[Post and Courier 11/27/12 by Prentiss Findlay]

“In a letter to the Legislative Audit Council, the group asked the audit to focus on Child Protective Services and the training of caseworkers.

The group also wants to know about the DSS field office in Dorechester County where they ask, “How many children have died resulting from abuse and/or neglect while under the jurisdiction or in the custody of the DSS office?”

“We’ll come up with findings and our recommendations,” said Perry Simpson, Director of the Legislative Audit Council. “They can be directed to the agency, telling them to revise policy or to implement new policies, and there can also be recommendations to the General Assembly saying ‘state law needs to be amended to address this issue’.”

The agency submitted an audit report to the General Assembly in 2006.

Legislators say complaints from their constituents prompted their audit request.

“They were in Lexington. They were in Spartanburg. They were in Greenville. They were in Richland,” said Horne. “We kept hearing the same thing over and over again and it is an unwillingness of DSS to step in and protect children when they are in imminent danger.”

Legislative Council Will Audit DSS

[WLTX 11/27/12 by Clark Fouraker]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: “In South Carolina, people accused of sexually abusing children do not face trial for years. Children who report abuse are not interviewed for weeks. Churches often stand between victims and help.
Those were among the findings of a privately financed report that comes as South Carolina is working to shore up its child protective system. The state is facing lawsuits and legislative scrutiny after a series of deaths, rapes and other assaults on children who were in state custody.

The report was welcomed by Gov. Nikki R. Haley, who said it offered useful recommendations for improving how the state — both the government and its citizens — can better address childhood sexual trauma.

It also prompted Ms. Haley to recount her own experience as a physically abused child.

While her mother worked she spent her days in day care at a neighborhood home, the governor said.

“One day I came home and I had a lot of bruises and a lot of issues,” she said during a news conference to discuss the report, by the National Child Protection Training Center.

She said her mother confronted the neighbors, who soon packed up and left without any repercussions.

“When it happened to me, my parents didn’t know what to do,” Governor Haley said. “They didn’t know who to go to. No one knew how to handle it.”

The report, “Silent Tears,” was based on interviews with hundreds of people who work directly with abused children. It called for more training at colleges and universities and for a uniform system of investigation.

State law enforcement records show more than 3,000 children reported being sexually abused in 2011. Most people who handled those cases received little training in college related to child abuse, the report said.

Felony child abuse trials, which should begin within six months, according to bar association standards, often take three years to get to court. And evidence collected when a case is reported varies widely.

“Everybody should know how to interrogate a subject, and everybody should know why crime scene photographs are important and why corroborating evidence is important,” said Victor Vieth, executive director of the training center, which is based at Winona State University in Minnesota.

The study found that church communities were least likely to report abuse and sometimes covered it up, urging victims to forgive their abusers instead of reporting them, Mr. Vieth said.

Because South Carolina is ranked as the fourth most religious state in the country, targeting churches and seminaries for more training is key, he said.

“When people don’t report it’s most often out of ignorance,” he said. ”

South Carolina Is Faulted on Child Services

[The New York Times 7/9/13 by Kim Severson]

“Michael Riordan, president and CEO of GHS, said the report is proving to be a catalyst for change in detecting and treating child abuse.

“Between all of us, we demonstrate that by working together, we have an opportunity to do more than any of us can do ourselves,” he said. “Together, we can put an end to child abuse.”

The Silent Tears study was funded with $250,000 from local businessman and GOP donor Bob Castellani and his wife, Lisa.

The report found that most of those directly involved in handling child sexual abuse cases have no undergraduate or graduate training directly dealing with child abuse cases.

Other recommendations include encouraging all colleges and universities in the state to improve their instruction on “child maltreatment” and setting a 21-credit minor offered at USC Upstate called Child Advocacy Studies as a minimum bar for college-level training.

The report also urges seminaries, law schools and medical schools to develop or expand child-protection instruction, and it advises child-protection employers to actively recruit candidates with adequate training.

Further, it urges speeding up the resolution of child sexual abuse cases. Some can take two years or longer to bring to trial, and Silent Tears suggests a goal of six months or less to resolve all child sexual abuse cases.

Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins, responsible for prosecution in Greenville and Pickens counties, has told GreenvilleOnline.com that his office is dealing with a burgeoning caseload involving criminal sexual conduct with children.

Wilkins said he wants more prosecutors to handle those cases and is urging more education and prevention, additional child-advocacy centers and training.”

Gov. Haley outlines steps to improve response to child abuse

[Greenville Online 7/9/13 by David Dykes]

The nonprofit Silent Tears website is here. It says “7 South Carolina Counties …have been selected for our Statewide Needs Assessment.

• Greenville/ Spartanburg
• Aiken
• Richland
• Dillon
• Allendale
• Charleston

These counties were selected based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, population, demographics, and geographic location.  Victor Vieth and his team from the National Child Protection Training Center will visit each of these areas to speak with hundreds of front line professionals who work with children and families who are involved in child sexual abuse investigations.”