Nelson County officials and other local agencies are ringing alarm bells over an “inexcusable decline” and lack of transparency in the county Department of Social Services, but the board charged with oversight of that department says those allegations are “unfounded” or already addressed.
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors issued a letter on May 23 to the Department of Social Services board in response to “credible reports” the county received from key local partner agencies regarding the department’s poor collaboration and communication on several child protective services cases.
“As a result, the Board of Supervisors has urgent and significant concerns regarding current leadership performance within the Department of Social Services and its impact on the agency’s ability to effectively serve our community,” reads the letter signed by Ernie Reed, chair of the Board of Supervisors.
Brad Johnson, who heads the Social Services board, declined to comment on the matter last week until after the board’s meeting this past Monday “to finalize our response to this situation.”
That response, however, sheds little light on a matter that has led state and local authorities, including the Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and Virginia Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, to open investigations.
In public comments made to county leadership in April, Eric Reynolds, director of the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, expressed “serious concerns with some of the practices engaged by the Nelson County Department of Social Services in handling reports of abuse and neglect of children in Nelson County.”
“My Office is currently investigating and reviewing several cases where NCDSS practices have left children in unsafe situations or were not in compliance with state law or policy,” reads an email Reynolds sent to the Nelson County commonwealth’s attorney on April 25.
According to the Social Services board’s statement released on Monday, the cases in question have all involved an overlap in services between law enforcement officers investigating potential abuse and neglect and the Department of Social Services’ assessment of the safety of the children involved. To determine the cause of the alleged lapses in care and communication, the Social Services board says it already commissioned and finalized an independent review.
“Some of the allegations proved to be unfounded,” wrote Johnson. “For other allegations, the basis for any concerns still has not been provided to the DSS Board despite multiple specific requests.”
“A sufficient number of concerns were validated,” Johnson continued, so a corrective action plan, or CAP, was developed by Virginia Social Services. That plan is aimed at addressing deficiencies in the child protective services program, in-home services program, family engagement resources and foster care and adoption.
In addition to the CAP, Johnson wrote that “one or more” performance improvement plans were also deemed appropriate for certain department employees. The identities of those employees are protected by a state grievance procedure.
Johnson’s statement concludes with the hope that these measures “will bring about meaningful changes in the way we all cooperate in serving the citizens of Nelson County.”
Nelson County officials, however, have already made clear their concerns “that this plan may not be sufficiently robust or comprehensive enough to address the root causes of the identified problem areas and ensure a sustainable positive outcome,” according to the Board of Supervisors’ May 23 letter. “It also appears to lack provisions for ongoing oversight and there is a risk that these critical issues will persist, ultimately undermining the Department’s mission and the public’s trust.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel Rutherford also has professed his doubts. Many other agencies, county residents, the sheriff’s office, University of Virginia Medical Center staff and court personnel have expressed frustrations over the gradual “degradation” of the Social Services Department, he told the News & Advance in a phone interview last week.
He also said Nelson Social Services has shown “a complete lack of one’s ability to do their job” in terms of child protective services.
“It has been a complete failure for the citizens of Nelson County,” Rutherford said.
The Board of Supervisors requested that the CAP be submitted for review in closed session at its meeting this past Tuesday. The matter was not mentioned during open session or public comment at said meeting.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com