DCS: High caseloads, lack of support fuel case manager exodus
A higher percentage of Indiana Department of Child Services family case managers is leaving the agency than in the past, Director Mary Beth Bonaventura said Thursday.
Bonaventura told the DCS Oversight Committee that, as of September, the "negative" turnover rate for family case managers was 24.1 percent. That statistic counts family case managers who left the agency, excluding promotions and transfers to another division.
September's negative turnover rate was higher than any annual turnover rate since at least 2007, according to records provided by the agency. In the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, the turnover rate was 21.7 percent. However, Bonaventura said, DCS' turnover rate was still one of the lowest in the country.
She said more family case managers have been leaving because their caseloads are higher, an increase fueled by parents' drug use. There were 19,521 kids in the child-welfare system last month, a 40.1 percent increase from September 2013, DCS records show.
As of June 30, only one of DCS' 19 regions — the agency’s central office — complied with the Indiana law that requires family case managers to handle no more than 12 initial assessments or 17 ongoing cases. Some employees are handling three times that many cases.
Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of DCS family case manager Mary Price and all other family case managers employed by the agency. The lawsuit claims DCS’ failure to comply with Indiana law is making it “extremely difficult” for them to do their jobs and is putting children at risk.
DCS has added 213 family case manager positions this year to handle the influx of cases. Seventy-five of those positions have not been filled yet, because state officials are determining which regional offices need them, Bonaventura said.
She said the agency also is reworking family case managers' duties to reduce the amount of paperwork they need to complete, so they can spend more time working with kids.
In exit interviews, family case managers also told DCS they were leaving because they didn't feel supported. In response, state officials started providing more training for supervisors.
"When you're stressed out, it's sometimes easy to find other employment," Bonaventura said.
Monroe Circuit Court Judge Stephen Galvin said he thinks employees also are leaving because of public perception. He said they need to consistently be told their work is "invaluable."
"They see more pain and suffering of a child in their first six months than a beat cop sees in an entire career," he said.
Call Star reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at (317) 444-6135. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyMarisaK.
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