Child-protection service in disarray

Child-protection service in disarray

Unfortunately, the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) can no longer be trusted to care for children in home care. As a registered and certified school nurse, I have struggled with this agency on numerous occasions, viewing firsthand this poorly managed child-welfare system. Departments are fragmented, and a tremendous lack of supervisory checks and balances exists. Its workforce is inexperienced, with 80 percent of directcare staff (those who work directly with clients, i.e. therapists, psychologists, etc.) having less than five years' experience, and 25 percent of the casework staff (staff members who arrange for client services) are trainees with less than one year of experience. Children are not visited by DYFS workers regularly, sometimes not for months at a time. Physician referrals are made but not enforced, and cases are closed with uninvestigated complaints of abuse. This is in violation of ethical, professional standards of practice, those principles that express values or standards of conduct.