A chance to transform child welfare

Two child welfare bills are heading to Gov. Terry Branstad's desk after this week; I hope for Iowa kids' sake he signs them.

The first is a differential response bill I wrote about back in March. It would create a dual-track system for responding to reports of possible child abuse or neglect, allowing child protection workers to work cooperatively with families in crisis when kids aren't in imminent danger.

The way it stands now, if the Iowa Department of Human Services receives a report, they open an investigation and look for a responsible party - the “abuser.”

But often, it's circumstances, not malice, that are to blame.

HF 415 creates a second option - a “Family Assessment Response” - that engages caregivers cooperatively and helps connect them with the services and resources they need.

This dual response could transform our child welfare and foster care system. Eighty percent of substantiated abuse reports in Iowa are for “denial of critical care,” also known as neglect.

Nearly half the states in the country have implemented some form of dual-track system. They've found, overwhelmingly, they're able to keep more families intact while keeping kids as safe, if not safer, than before.

The second bill headed for Gov. Branstad's desk would allow county attorneys, who usually represent the Department of Human Services in court cases seeking to declare children in need of assistance or to terminate a parent's rights, to part ways with the agency when they disagree with DHS recommendations.

In those admittedly rare cases, the Iowa Attorney General's Office would represent the agency.

The county attorney could stay involved representing the county's perspective. Yes, it's a little complicated.

And I'm sympathetic to concerns of folks such as Sen. Liz Mathis, also chief information officer at Four Oaks, who worry that allowing county attorneys to act as “free agents” might lead to inconsistencies, or lead them to disregard the heavy lifting that goes into a case even before it hits the courtroom.

But freeing up county attorneys would be a much-needed check on a system heavily loaded on the side of the state.

County attorneys' primary responsibility is to their county's residents, including those DHS-involved parents who too often can feel steamrollered by court proceedings.

Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen

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