Child welfare system not perfect but works

By David Loy

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It is not my job to defend or speak for the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), but I feel that facts need to be brought forward that Jennifer Hemmingsen and The Gazette editorial staff have not included in their opinion pieces about the Iowa foster care system.

As the director of the Partnership for Safe Families and president of the Linn Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse, I have worked with DHS, so I have knowledge of the following facts:

l By law, DHS cannot act alone.

The child welfare system consists of DHS, juvenile court judges, county attorneys, court-appointed attorneys and an array of supporting organizations. Each partner, and each family, shares responsibility for how the system responds to child abuse.

l The institutional analysis was not just about DHS.

This analysis was often quoted in the articles and these opinions incorrectly made it look like it was only about DHS. The analysis was about the whole of the child welfare system. There were negative comments about each part of the system, but there were also positive comments not brought forward in the articles.

l The child welfare system is not perfect.

The Linn County DHS leadership voluntarily invited the outside institutional analysis to examine the child welfare system and work is under way to address issues brought forward by this analysis. Working with DHS and the child welfare system, I have seen positive change and a desire to improve the system.

l This system is not simple or easy.

The child welfare system is much more complicated than the articles imply. I have witnessed DHS staff work in seemingly impossible situations with limited resources. I have watched them try to navigate a complicated system. But I also have seen how much they care for the children they serve and how hard they work to bring these situations to a safe and positive conclusion. There is always more than one side to every story.

l We all share in the prevention of child abuse.

If we do not want a child to be abused, we need to get involved. In 2010, more than 80 percent of child abuse was in the category of Denial of Critical Care (sometimes referred to as neglect). It is defined as the failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of a child to provide for adequate food, shelter, clothing or other care necessary for the child's health and welfare.

If the lack of proper supervision of children becomes a safety concern, the child welfare system must take action. If all organizations, churches, extended families and neighbors would step forward to offer direct help to families to prevent neglect, the amount of abuse will drop dramatically.

As a former pastor, I sometimes had to help individuals understand that we should not be throwing stones when we need to work on our own lives first. I believe this goes for organizations also. I applaud DHS and the child welfare system for submitting to an outside analysis, and I look forward to changes that will occur because of it.

Finally, in a recent article in the Des Moines Register, there is this opening sentence: “The deaths of at least eight young children in Iowa in 2011 allegedly resulted from abuse or neglect.” I want to thank the staff of the DHS for the work they do toward the safety of our children. It is not always flawless, but what would it be like without them?

David Loy is director of Partnership for Safe Families, in Cedar Rapids. Comments: dloy@psfcr.com