The Advocate. March 10, 2024.

Editorial: Turnaround at DCFS stalled by dysfunction

The ongoing problems at the Department of Children and Family Services should be familiar to people across our state. They have been well documented by this newspaper in the series “ Suffering So Young ” by reporter Andrea Gallo.

Over the course of several months in 2022 and 2023, Gallo’s stories laid bare the cracks in the system that led to the tragic deaths of some of Louisiana’s most vulnerable kids. They told of chronic underfunding, lax oversight and unmanageable caseloads at the agency tasked with tracking and protecting thousands of at-risk kids from across Louisiana.

At the time, the prospects seemed grim for a turnaround. However, at the end of last year in the waning days of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration, we saw reasons for optimism. Kathleen Stewart Richey of Baton Rouge, a respected juvenile court judge, was appointed as child ombudsman, working independently from the agency to review its work. DCFS also stepped up hiring to ease the burden on individual caseworkers, whose caseloads were three times the national standard.

Now, though, even those glimmers of hope have seemed to dim. Gallo recently revisited the DCFS story and found that worrisome problems had proved intractable. Gov. Jeff Landry’s pick to lead the agency, David Matlock, a retired Caddo juvenile court judge, told Gallo that the hiring spree had helped in the short-term, but led to a large amount of turnover. For example, Baton Rouge, which has seen a spike in the number of deaths of children under age 2, lost half its caseworkers last year.

As for the ombudsman, the job has had its own set of challenges. When the Legislature created the position, it envisioned an office that would have broad authority to investigate complaints. But Richey told Gallo she has been denied the records she needs, and she worries that kids are being prevented from contacting her confidentially. She wants power to subpoena information and clarification about some of the responsibilities of her role. Those changes could be coming, as Richey and state Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, whose legislation created the office, are working on bills for the upcoming session to address those and other issues.

As for the ombudsman, the job has had its own set of challenges. When the Legislature created the position, it envisioned an office that would have broad authority to investigate complaints. But Richey told Gallo she has been denied the records she needs, and she worries that kids are being prevented from contacting her confidentially. She wants power to subpoena information and clarification about some of the responsibilities of her role. Those changes could be coming, as Richey and state Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, whose legislation created the office, are working on bills for the upcoming session to address those and other issues.

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