(published in the Austin American Statesman, Dec. 7, 2004)

Note: The following op-ed was written by Dr. Kurt Senske in response to a report
by State Representative Suzanna Gratia Hupp and other members
of the House Select Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care

Daisy Perales. Michael Russell. Amber Rose Pacheco. Andrew Brian Oubeda. Davontae Williams. Diamond Alexander-Williams. Jovanne Ochoa. Jerry Galindo.

For most Texans, the names have no meaning. But for those of us who care for abused and neglected children, they are a roll call of young lives lost in recent months because the child welfare system has failed them.

For more than a year, we have read headline after headline detailing the failures of the child protective services system. Audits have been ordered and hearings have been held. Reports are being written and released. The findings are the same: over and again the system has failed; caseworkers are inexperienced, undersupported and overwhelmed; the system lacks accountability and serious reform is required.

Our elected and appointed leaders must immediately take courageous and serious action before another child, who should have been protected, dies or is seriously injured.

In a recently released report, state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, and other members of the House Select Committee on Child Welfare and Foster Care provide realistic legislative solutions to begin correcting these problems.

Lutheran Social Services is the largest provider of children's residential services in the state of Texas. Last year, we cared for more than 1,600 foster children statewide. We also cared for more than 540 children with severe emotional and behavioral problems, most the result of past abuse and neglect, in our four Texas residential treatment centers.

Because of the size of our program, we have seen the inadequacy of the resources to fund the system and the inconsistencies that plague it and threaten its very mission.

Before any change can be realized, everyone must acknowledge that Texas does not dedicate enough resources to preventing and addressing abuse and neglect of its most vulnerable citizens. In most ratings, the great state of Texas shamefully ranks among the lowest in several categories of providing health and social services to poor, abused and neglected children. In the next legislative session, we cannot continue to sacrifice children in the hopes of achieving a better bottom line.

That said, money alone, is not the solution. Rather, a significant overhaul of the system must be done if we are to protect this generation of children. Funding and reform must go hand in hand.

The following are the steps we believe must be taken:

• Funding for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services must be increased significantly across the board. Prevention programs must be reinstated and reimbursement for private providers who care for children must be increased to attract and retain the best possible people to be foster parents.

• The department must address its lack of experienced and well-trained staff. When you have staff who are not trained, are inexperienced and who quit their jobs within a year or two, children are going to die.

While the "rapid response" plan is a good start for replenishing the rolls of caseworkers, the state must immediately dedicate more resources to compensating, training — and retaining — staff. The staff, the front-line forces in the war on child abuse, must be adequately prepared and supported so they can address the complex issues of dysfunctional families and abusive and neglectful environments.

• The licensing and regulatory system at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services must be revamped dramatically. The department should get out of the business of providing direct services and instead focus on consistent regulation and contract monitoring of providers.

• The department also should implement "best practices" and not settle for minimum standards. We urge those in authority to require the agency to seek accreditation. The accreditation process is rigorous, consistent and focuses on best practices, which will put the agency on track for massive, systemic reform.

We must fix a system that is not just broken, but in shambles. The lives of Daisy, Michael, Amber, Andrew, Davontae Williams, Diamond and Jovanne must not have been in vain.

Senske is chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of the South, which cares for more than 1,230 children each day in foster homes and residential treatment centers.

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