Judge holds Kentucky's child welfare agency in contempt of court over abuse, neglect cases

Citing the "dismal state" of the local child welfare office — and conditions statewide — a Barren County judge has found the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services in contempt of court for failing to provide sufficient staff and resources to manage child abuse and neglect cases.

The Feb. 8 order by Family Court Judge Mica Wood Pence cites chronic staffing shortages and high turnover in the cabinet's Barren County office in southern Kentucky leading to delays, late reports, missed deadlines and repeatedly postponed hearings on children's cases.

Pence's order found that the cabinet "willfully violated" or acted with "open disrespect" in failing to meet basic requirements of state law regarding child protection.

As a result, effects include some children lingering in foster care instead of being returned on time to families, Pence said in an interview. And she said it's not a new problem.

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"This has been an ongoing problem for us in Barren County for an extremely long period of time," Pence said.

While such family court cases are confidential, Pence took the unusual step of making her order public and directed it be sent to officials including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Marta Miranda-Straub, social services commissioner, and top legislative leaders.

Pence, in her order, said she did so because "all three branches of our government must be involved in order to effectively establish a permanent solution for the crisis affecting the abused and neglected children of the commonwealth and the frontline ... social workers."

A cabinet spokeswoman said Thursday the agency "takes the issues identified very seriously."

"We are currently investigating the situation and will take any necessary action," Susan Dunlap said in a statement. "We remain committed to hiring and retaining a well-trained, healthy and knowledgeable workforce."

At a news conference Thursday, Beshear — who for the third year in a row is asking lawmakers to fund more social worker slots — said they also should consider his recommendation for a student loan forgiveness program as a way to retain workers.

With pension benefits reduced for new workers, "We've got to have a retention benefit to keep people," he said.

Pence held a hearing Nov. 23 at which she asked the cabinet to show why it should not be held in contempt of court for staffing and other problems. The cabinet "unfortunately" failed to provide any such evidence, her order said.

Pence's order comes as the state struggles to overhaul and expand its embattled social service system plagued by an exodus of workers who cite low pay, long hours, high stress and unmanageable case loads. More than 600 employees left the agency last year out of a workforce of about 4,300 workers who handle child and adult protection and benefits such as food assistance and health coverage.

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It also comes as lawmakers are expressing growing concern about the state's continued high rates of child abuse and neglect.

With most state child welfare offices understaffed, a supervisor for Barren County testified at the Nov. 23 hearing that conditions statewide are "in the worst state of crisis" she has seen in 27 years with the cabinet, Pence's order said.

"The entire state is in crisis — not just Barren County," the supervisor testified.

Barren County should have 17 social workers but had only five as of Feb. 1, the order said.

The Beshear administration has been trying to turn around the state social service system.

Beshear recently announced 10 % pay raises effective Dec. 16 for social service workers and other "family support" workers by upgrading their job classifications. Social service workers start at about $34,000 a year with others, such as administrative staff, earning far less.

Friedlander, the cabinet secretary, said the state also has streamlined the hiring process to get more social workers on the job faster.

"We've stopped the hemorrhaging," he said Monday on Kentucky Tonight, a KET public affairs show. "But we've got a long way to go."

Beshear for the past two years has proposed in his budget enough funds to hire more social workers, 350 in 2020 and 75 in 2021 but the General Assembly did not fund additional slots either year.

This year, Beshear, a Democrat, in his budget proposal is seeking enough money to hire an additional 350 social service workers over the next two years along with a student loan forgiveness program for social workers.

Republicans, who control both chambers of the legislature, have proposed funds to hire 100 workers each year over the next two years in their budget plan that originated in the House.

Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, and minority leader in the House, said limiting new positions to 200 workers over two years is "problematic."

"We're hearing frontline workers saying 'we need more people to help us,'" Jenkins said, speaking on the KET program.

Lawmakers have filed several bills aimed at upgrading the system.

Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, would update state child protection laws, increase oversight and increase funding for state-authorized child advocacy centers for children who experience sexual or other abuse.

Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, has filed Senate Bill 97 to strengthen the work of an independent panel that reviews cases of children who die or suffer life-threatening injuries from abuse of neglect.

Pence's order cited 11 cases of child abuse and neglect, with names and identifying information redacted, that she said were affected by problems in the Barren County office.

It said Barren County currently has 160 children in foster care with only five social workers to handle their cases that include regular visits, court appearances, numerous reports, forms and other duties.

Further, the social services staff is working 60 hours a week or more and handling calls at all hours of the night and on weekends, the order said.

According to one worker's testimony, "there is not a single day in any given year when (she) does not have to worry about answering her phone."

One worker said caseloads have grown "exponentially" during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing more workers to leave and making it harder to hire new ones, the order said. The worker testified that the office simply needs more "boots on the ground."

Pence's order gives the cabinet 30 days to file a plan with the court showing how it will meet the immediate needs of the Barren County office and its workers, including a "reasonably projected timeline" for doing so.

Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter.