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Read success stories and innovative offerings of state and local agencies
Iowa, Mexico Sign Child Welfare Accord
Meth Sending More Children to Foster Care in Idaho
Arizona Speeds Up Process for Food Stamp Applicants
Iowa Hails Drop in Repeat Child Abuse Cases
Child Care Is Big Business in N.J., Study Finds
Survey: N.H. Best State for Disabled on Medicaid
Indiana Child Support Collection Continues to Increase
Arizona Agency Helps People Too Old for Foster Care
New York County Tries Tech To Cut Medicaid Fraud
Kids in Tennessee Custody Put on Less Drugs
Missouri Unemployment System Linked to Federal Network
Texas Expanding Kinship Foster Care Program
County Uses Software to Tackle Medicaid Fraud
County Child Support Agency Receives State Honor
Texas Goes Live With Smart Card-Based Benefits Card
Iowa, Mexico Sign Child Welfare Accord
DES MOINES, Iowa—Iowa and the Mexican government have sealed a formal agreement that will ensure the rights of Mexican citizens who are in custody of Iowa’s child welfare system. If appropriate, the agreement will also help Iowa officials work with the child’s relatives in Mexico. Iowa becomes the second state, after Nebraska, to have a formal child welfare memorandum of understanding with Mexico. Iowa agrees to notify Mexican officials immediately when any child born in Mexico comes into state custody. Iowa will also provide written information to the child and caretakers about their rights and the juvenile court process, and the state will assist Mexican officials if they want to meet with the troubled family. If the goal is to reunify the child with caretakers who are in Iowa, then the child will remain placed in temporary foster care in Iowa. But if reunification is unsafe for the child, then Mexican officials will assist in locating suitable relatives in Mexico, conducting home studies, and performing follow-up checks to make sure the child is safe. - 4-20-2006
Meth Sending More Children to Foster Care in Idaho
BOISE, Idaho—The number of children in foster care is up by 40 percent over the last four years because of the growing use of methamphetamine, according to state officials. Department of Health and Welfare officials say about 70 percent of foster care cases involve some sort of substance abuse. One narcotics officer said meth has always been a problem. He said most people using meth are not young, single people without any responsibilities—more often than not they are parents. The officer said the majority of meth users that he arrests have children. In fact, the Department of Health and Welfare noted 30 percent of the substance abuse cases in the foster care program are meth-related. Meth is second only to alcohol abuse. - 3-6-2006
Arizona Speeds Up Process for Food Stamp Applicants
PHOENIX—State officials have agreed to new procedures designed to ensure that food stamp applicants get their benefits on time. The agreement, designed to end a 2004 lawsuit, mandates that the Department of Economic Security monitor applications to comply with federal law that requires states to approve or reject all requests for aid within 30 days. That same law mandates that requests by the most needy be handled within seven days. It also requires the state to set up a toll-free number to be used by those applying for either new benefits or recertification and whose requests have not been processed on time. Ellen Katz, attorney for the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, said the agency now is processing 95 percent of applications on time, which she said is the result of that lawsuit. When the lawsuit was filed, only 70 percent of requests were handled on time. - 3-7-2006
Iowa Hails Drop in Repeat Child Abuse Cases
DES MOINES, Iowa—The number of Iowa children who were victims of abuse hit an all-time high in 2005, but fewer of them suffered repeat abuse in the state child welfare system, according to new statistics released in March. The numbers made public by the Iowa Department of Human Services from last year show:
- A 57 percent drop in the number of children exposed to methamphetamine-making. Child welfare officials say they believe the trend reflects a state law that has restricted the sale of certain cold medications that contain a key ingredient for making meth.
- Cases of physical and sexual abuse dropped sharply. Reports of physical abuse were down 20 percent, and reports of sexual abuse, 24 percent.
- Cases in which children were denied proper food, clothing and safe living conditions were up. Three of four cases of confirmed child abuse fell into the category of “neglect” last year.
- Iowa’s social workers are overburdened. They juggle an average of 45 child welfare cases at one time. National standards define 15 to 18 cases as manageable. Licensing activities, home studies, child care regulation and other services combine to drive the average case load to 103 for each of the state's 455 social workers.
- Fewer than 1 percent of children were abused in foster care, and children are moving through the adoption process more quickly
In the last calendar year, 13,544 Iowa children were abused or neglected, up 2 percent from the previous high of 13,288 in 2003, according to the statistics. - 3-2-2006
Child Care Is Big Business in N.J., Study Finds
TRENTON—Child-care operations have a bigger impact on New Jersey's economy than do many higher-profile industries, a study on the issue shows. That impact ranges from economic and societal effects to future workforce development and reduced crime, according to a report by the New Jersey Child Care Economic Impact Council, a group of day-care providers, advocates and business and government leaders. Titled “Benefits for All,” the report estimated the child-care industry in New Jersey, covering programs for children up to age 13, had a direct economic impact last year of $2.55 billion. That’s the amount that flowed into the 4,337 licensed child-care centers and nearly 12,000 other sites providing child care covered by the study. According to the report, that amount is less than the annual revenues of New Jersey's nursing and residential care facilities (about $4.5 billion a year) and of machinery manufacturers, but more than the revenues of the agriculture, scientific research and development, and hotel industries in New Jersey, excluding casino hotels. Also, the estimated 65,300 full-time equivalent jobs in child care exceed employment totals for major sectors such as telecommunications, pharmaceutical manufacturing, real estate and rentals, and transportation and warehousing, the report says. - 3-1-2006
Survey: N.H. Best State for Disabled on Medicaid
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire is the top-performing state in offering Medicaid services to people with disabilities, according to a survey done by United Cerebral Palsy. United Cerebral Palsy, based in Washington, D.C., said New Hampshire scored highest in various categories such as coverage and eligibility, home and community-based services, reaching those in need, and cost efficiency. Three other Northeastern states—Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont—were ranked second, third and fourth, respectively. - 2-22-2006
Indiana Child Support Collection Continues to Increase
INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana Department of Child Services, which oversees the child support bureau, reported in February that it collected more than $460,000,000 in child support payments in 2004, the latest year for which statistics were available. Those numbers have increased steadily in the last three years, beginning with $426,000,000 collected in 2002 and $439,000,000 in 2003, according to a report. Officials attribute the increase in the amount of collections to several enforcement tools that have been put in place, including income withholding, interception of tax refunds and lottery winnings, driver’s license and hunting license suspension, passport denial and liens on personal property. Indiana’s progress is in line with the rest of the nation which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has seen an 18 percent increase in total collections since 1997. The bureau reported that $40 billion in child support payments were collected nationally in 2002, up from $34 billion in 1997. For example, for the 11th consecutive year, child support collections in New York state collections topped $1.5 billion in 2005, a 143 percent increase over collections in 1994. The $1.5 billion in 2005 collections represents a $56 million increase over 2004, and the seventh consecutive year of collections totaling more than $1 billion. - 2-22-2006
Arizona Agency Helps People Too Old for Foster Care
PHOENIX, Ariz.—Jenez Bell was abused as a child, removed from her home by Arizona Child Protective Services at age 7, and spent her childhood moving from group home to group home. By the time she turned 18 last year, she was alone in the world. She would soon find herself pregnant and broke. Every year, about 250 young people like Bell, who have been in foster care and were wards of the state, turn 18 and “age-out” of the system. At an age when most teenagers are talking to their parents about getting started in college, getting a dorm room and buying new clothes, these young adults confront a world for which they are often ill-prepared. Then she heard about a new transitional living program run by the state’s oldest charity, Florence Crittenton, an organization that recently refurbished and opened an apartment building to help 20 young women. In addition to getting a safe place to live, these women are taught practical life skills, job training and given some financial help. All the services are designed to prepare them to live on their own. The most important elements of the program, however, are the mentoring and camaraderie the women receive. Crittenton program manager Mike Weddle said Bell is typical of the young people entering the agency's new program. Statistics compiled by the Casey Family Programs, a national, non-profit organization that finds and supervises foster care homes, including those in Arizona, tell a sad tale of what happens to too many former foster children. According to the 2003 Casey study, former Arizona foster children end up receiving public assistance, such as welfare or food stamps, at a rate more than three times the national average. Government and private agencies have not been blind to the problem. About $2.5 million a year is spent in Arizona helping those in the foster system learn to live independently. Arizona contracts with Crittenton to offer an independent-living-skills program for teens in the foster care system. And the state has a process by which foster children can apply for an extension of benefits, or even get help in going to college. - 2-21-2006
New York County Tries Tech To Cut Medicaid Fraud
NEW CITY, N.Y.— New York’s Rockland County is trying out IBM’s $1 billion information management initiative in a pilot program aimed at busting Medicaid fraud. “In Rockland County, we spend $1 million a day [on Medicaid],” Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef said, adding that 49 percent of pharmacy claims are questionable and 19 percent of all Medicaid claims have some sign they are inaccurate or fraudulent. Based on those figures, he said if even half of the questionable claims in his state were identified as false, New York State could save as much as $4.5 billion a year. IBM’s information-on-demand software products, which federate, sort and analyze numeric, textual, video, special and other data, help government workers identify irregularities that require further investigation. With the pilot program it’s going to be more difficult for someone to charge prescription drugs to an account of someone who had Medicaid but has been dead for awhile, he said. It will also be obvious when an internist claims to have seen 9,000 people in one day, he said. The state has been investigating and prosecuting fraud in the government-paid health insurance programs for indigents, but Vanderhoef said the pilot program will help prevent payments for bogus claims so the state doesn't have to try to recoup them after the fact. - 2-17-2006
Kids in Tennessee Custody Put on Less Drugs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Children in custody of the state of Tennessee are receiving significantly less mental health medications than children in the custody of other states. The Department of Children Services (DCS) previously assumed that about 20 percent to 25 percent of the children who come into custody due to abuse or neglect are put on psychotropic medications. However, new data show that only about 16 percent of the children take psychotropic medications, which treat an individual’s mental health and are capable of affecting the mind, emotions and behavior. DCS Commissioner Viola Miller said she did not know yet what that means. “We know we’re a little lower than other states,” Miller said. “We don’t know if that’s good or bad. But we’ve got the right resources in place to figure it out.” In 2004, Miller agreed with child advocates who said children in state custody are overmedicated, and went in search of a staff psychiatrist who would work with her in the department’s top level. Other states report that 20 percent to 25 percent of their children in custody are on psychotropic medications. And Tennessee’s 16 percent is especially low, when considering that many of the children have suffered a rather harsh life before coming into state custody; that some have received poor natal care; that others had to deal with domestic violence or abuse; and that all of them had gone through the trauma and upheaval of being taken from their known environment into state custody. Miller said the new data will help to determine whether more kids need medications or whether the department has a lower percentage of kids on psychotropic medications because its screening process is in place and working. - 2-14-2006
Missouri Unemployment System Linked to Federal Network
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Missouri’s unemployment program is now hooked into the National Directory of New Hires, part of the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Originally designed to create a national system that makes it harder for deadbeat parents to escape child support payments, the network now is being used by Missouri’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to add muscle to its Division of Employment Security. The link makes it easier for the state to know when people have returned to work anywhere in the United States. With that information, the state can halt unemployment insurance payments to employed persons who might otherwise have escaped detection. Katharine Barondeau, acting director of the state Labor Department, said the network also should give employers greater peace of mind “that unemployment benefits are paid properly and that those who abuse the system are caught and penalized for their actions.” - 2-9-2006
Texas Expanding Kinship Foster Care Program
AUSTIN, Texas—Lisa and Ashley Mitchell faced an uncertain future after the death of the grandmother who was raising them. They were cast into the foster care system and could have bounced like many children from placement to placement, losing track of each other and falling behind as they changed schools. Instead, both went to live with a friend of their grandmother's, Lola Stephens, through the state's kinship foster care program. A decade later, the now-12- and 15-year-old girls are flourishing, getting good grades and helping out after school at Stephens’ tiny Cajun restaurant. Such success stories are among the reasons why the state wants to expand the kinship program. It aims to help foster children stay connected with their families and communities by placing them with relatives or family friends. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services wants to recruit more kinship caregivers by involving more relatives and friends in custody decisions. The agency is offering small stipends to defray the cost of raising the children.As of August, 23 percent of the 26-thousand-741 children in state custody are placed with relatives or family friends. That's up from 19 percent in 2004, the most recent statistics. The national average hovers between 25 and 30 percent. - 2-14-2006
County Uses Software to Tackle Medicaid Fraud
ROCHESTER, N.Y—Monroe County is using software called “Verify-New York” to target Medicaid fraud and wasteful spending. The program red flags suspicious Medicaid claims. About 36 percent of every tax dollar goes toward the county’s Medicaid bill, which is $162 million a year and growing. Monroe County’s Medicaid chief Bill Carpenter said areas where the county spends the most—prescription drugs, cardiology, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and hospital emergency rooms—top the list for potential abuse or waste. Claims that are red-flagged may not indicate fraud, but cases where the provider could do better. The county will check about 18 months’ worth of Medicaid claims from the second half of 2004 through 2005. Of the $3.2 billion internists billed to Medicaid in the downstate county, Verify-NY questioned almost a million of it. The program red-flagged $2 million of the $67 million billed by pharmacists. Besides Monroe and Rockland, 10 other counties are piloting the software created by IBM. - 2-7-2006
Texas Goes Live With Smart Card-Based Benefits Card
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas has successfully launched a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) smart card program. WIC is a federal program that provides participants with nutritious foods, counseling, and referrals to health and other social services at no charge. The program serves low-income pregnant, postpartum and breast-feeding women, and infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk. In most states, women are given WIC vouchers or checks that they redeem at grocery stores for WIC-eligible foods and beverages, such as milk and infant formula. But in Texas, all that is changing. After a year-long pilot program in El Paso, the state’s Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is expanding the use of an electronic benefits smart card for purchases made by WIC clients, replacing the paper voucher system. Last October, the state began the gradual implementation of the WIC smart card program, issuing its Lone Star Card to women in the north central Texas area near Dallas. This same card is also used for food stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients. The smart card contains a chip that stores food benefits data for all members of a household participating in the WIC program. At the grocery store, the user inserts the card into a device at the register, where the card stays until the purchases are complete. Store computers identify WIC-approved items based on scanned product codes. When the WIC client is finished, she is prompted to remove her card. The items are deducted from the user's card as the items are rung up. Each card contains food benefit information covering three months, calculated on a month-by-month basis. As items are purchased, the card is automatically updated with the remaining balance. Under the old system, WIC-eligible items had to be separated and totaled so the vouchers could be properly redeemed. This process took extra time at the cash register. 1-25-2006
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