Like I predicted yesterday, Mayor Nutter's statement about Sugarhouse Casino, and the legislation introduced by councilman-in-absentia Frank Dicicco dominated last night's and this morning's news coverage. (6 ABC, Fox 29, Daily News, Inquirer, KYW 1060 AM, Metro, Evening Bulletin, and the Business Journal).
Fortunately, the DN, Inky, KYW and WHYY (no link available) had the time and the resources available to cover the release of a report by a select committee - the Community Oversight Board (COB) - that was charged with reviewing child welfare practices at the much-maligned Department of Human Services (DHS).
The report paints a picture of an agency that still has a lot of improvements to make but also makes the point that at least things are moving in a positive direction.
The most persistent obstacle, it seems, is the difficulty that DHS has in attracting, training and, most importantly, retaining qualified case workers. The Daily News and KYW stories point out that there are 80 to 90 vacancies (depending on which your read) which has made one of the goals of DHS reform - visiting children under age 5 at least once per month - very difficult to achieve. A quote from Mayor Nutter in the KYW story tells part of the story about why it's so difficult to fill these positions and keep people in them:
Mayor Nutter says DHS workers don't get the same kind of recognition for saving lives that police and firefighters rightly receive:
"They are really good, committed people, who do these jobs that many of us would shudder, if we had to listen to or interact with some of the things that people to do children and to each other."
When you combine the toll this kind of work takes on one's psyche with the low starting pay and frustration with the way the system works, it's a wonder that anyone takes these jobs. I get a sense that the experience of a social worker is a lot like being a doctor - they just can't take everything personally, can't get too close to their cases - or it'll drive them crazy. Of course, I've never been a doctor or a social worker so I'd love for some input from people who are or who work closely with them.
The really good ones are there because they want to help people - specifically kids. They aren't in it for the money, and it's not clear that raising salaries would make all that much difference in recruitment and retention. That's not to say that more funding for DHS isn't necessary. It's up to the city government, among its many priorities, to do everything it can, to provide the necessary resources/technology/support, to make the jobs of the social workers easier. These folks are the first line of defense against a whole range of social ills that could result from a poor upbringing. If not for the social workers, at-risk children will either end up dead or the next city worker they meet... will be a police officer.
A post like this often opens me up to a whole bunch of comments about how the government shouldn't be raising children... about how it starts with having better parents and stronger families. I don't disagree with any of that. But just saying "parents have to raise their children better" isn't going to make it happen. And until it starts happening, leaving those children to fight for themselves against abusive or neglectful parents is not something we should accept by any level of government.
Read the full report or at least the news coverage (here, here and here). If you consider this a budgetary priority, keep that in mind when the process starts on February 14th with the Mayor's budget address to City Council.