JEFFERSON CITY — Top child welfare officials were on the hot seat Tuesday as members of a House panel grilled them about the results of an “alarming” federal report that revealed a pattern of mishandling missing foster children who run away.
After a year of pushing state bureaucrats to improve Missouri’s treatment of foster youths, frustrated lawmakers unloaded on the Department of Social Services, which has been in the crosshairs over its handling of foster care and adoption services in the state.
“I was shocked by the scope of the report, but I was not surprised by the content,” said Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican who chairs the House Children and Families Committee.
The report, issued Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, says Missouri does not have strong policies for identifying children who may be at heightened risk of running away or plans in place to reduce their risk. Those same children could become victims of sex trafficking.
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In 59 cases reviewed by the office, Missouri “rarely demonstrated attempts to reduce children’s risk of going missing,” the report noted.
And, during the times in which the children were missing from care, Missouri frequently failed to comply with requirements that could have aided in locating them.
Acting DSS Director Jennifer Tidball acknowledged there are shortcomings in her department.
“We have some work to do,” Tidball said.
“I think right now we’re managing as best as we can,” added Joanie Rogers, who oversees the agency’s children’s division.
Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lee’s Summit, warned Tidball that she shouldn’t blame previous administrations for the problems uncovered in the report.
But, Tidball said the practices of the past are important to consider when reviewing how the agency operates.
“It absolutely is an important factor,” Tidball said.
Rep. Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, also scolded Tidball and Rogers for “passing the buck.”
“I’m not shocked or surprised. It’s kind of indicative of this department. This should have been fixed. This looks poor,” Bailey said. “Kids are getting made prostitutes and I don’t like it. I don’t know where we go from here. It’s just disturbing.”
Ingle also raised questions about a 2020 purge of employees in the agency, suggesting that it left gaps in how the state can respond to missing kids.
Tidball said a review of caseloads is underway.
“We’re actually working on that right now,” Tidball said.
The inspector general’s office began its review after the agency was involved in a 2019 operation to locate as many as 978 missing children in the state.
The report noted that Tidball told the inspector general that employees of the Children’s Division often run into roadblocks from local police when they report older teenagers as missing.
On Thursday, she told the panel that some welfare workers have simply stopped trying to get law enforcement involved.
“That’s something we need to work on,” Tidball said.
Amid the scrutiny, the department continues to be dogged by high turnover rates and vacant positions at both the top of the Children’s Division as well as in frontline child welfare positions.
In 2020, the agency, which employs about 2,000 people, had 26% turnover. Budget documents show the division was able to roll over $1.6 million from “increased turnover” of children’s service workers last year.
Tidball said she is working with budget writers and a consultant to improve the pay of the frontline workers.
The consultant, Accenture, has been paid $500,000 for its work in the most recent fiscal year, state payroll records say.
According to the report, Department of Social Services employees cannot rely on the agency’s case management system to accurately identify children who are missing from foster care without reviewing individual case files.
To better protect children from the risks associated with being missing from foster care, the report recommends Missouri develop policies to help identify children who have a heightened risk of going missing from care and interventions that could reduce their risk.
The report also recommends Missouri deploy a monitoring mechanism to ensure case managers are complying with requirements. The state also needs a procedure in place to document when children are identified as missing and when they are located or return to care.
Tidball said a revamped caseload tracking system would cost an estimated $35 million.
Outside observers say problems in the agency are well-known.
“I think we have an agency in duress,” Kelly Schultz, director of the Office of Child Advocate, told the committee.
Along with budget cuts and high turnover among leadership in the agency, the Department of Social Services has grappled with the stress of the pandemic on workers.
“You’ve just got this perfect storm of factors going on,” Schultz said.