“It's mandatory for us to make sure these children are safe,” Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman said at a recent press conference. “That's job number 1.”
Blakeman launched the program in 2023 and hired more workers for child protection services to reduce caseloads at the Department of Human Services. However, the January decision that Blakeman would use DSS to invite former police officers and detectives as special investigators to tackle child abuse cases (unlike many policymakers and agency leaders). , meaning Blakeman has not lost sight of the most important function of child protection.
There is a shortage of child welfare agencies workers throughout the county. A 2023 report from the Casey Family program stated, “Around 15 years before the Covid-19 pandemic, child welfare turnover rates were between estimated 20% and 40%, with an estimated national average of 30%.” It states. The pandemic and subsequent labor shortages only made things worse. A recent survey shows that New York's turnover rate in 2023 reached 60% in some residential facilities.
Of course, pay was never great for these jobs. And the demands became even more difficult. A Texas worker told me that when her boss asked me to stay overnight with children who had been taken from her family, she had to quit. And public campaigns to abolish child welfare and repay CPS in recent years have not helped. Who would like to work for an institution that is currently known by supporters and politicians as the “family surveillance system”?
However, one consistent issue has always been the pipeline. Who wants to do this job? Who will be cut out for it? People enter this field with the hopes of solving problems and bringing together their families. However, the reality of frontline CPS works is a completely different thing. Below is how former ACS commissioner John Mattingly explained to the audience a few years ago.
You are a 24 year old woman. You have a sociology degree with a minor history. . . And within a few months at work, you step into a public housing apartment building, pass the gangbang hanging out in front, and take what you have to take from them as you walk. Masu. If you're smart, don't use the elevator because it's broken or not safe at all. . . You enter a family situation that only speaks Spanish.
And it just reaches the door. Mattingly continues:
The report you get is that this mother made her living selling drugs from the apartment, and the kids bump into drug users who regularly come in. That's everything you know. I don't know who created the report.
But Mattingly says once the child's grandparents understand who you are, they're running through the door with the kids. Now it's your job to understand that – you can ask your mother, ask your children what happened, and look around the apartment to see evidence of drug use and other criminal activity. , and you are at risk while making sure you are not.
If this doesn't sound like a police officer's job, what do you have? Still, they were reluctant to involve the police in this job because they were considered too combative for such sensitive work.
There are exceptions. Arizona, for example, hired 120 detectives a few years ago to work with CPS. (The state's Child Protection Agency was led for a while by a former murder detective.) In 2018, some members of the New York Children's Services administration were trained in investigative techniques and safety by the NYPD. It was a positive development, but it appears to have not continued. Still, all this can be done upstream. Why not offer criminal justice programs or police academy trucks for those interested in child protection services?
More and more child welfare agencies believe their responsibility is promoting “family happiness,” correcting racism, and repairing parents. But first and foremost, the public expects their children to protect them. Hiring a small number of people with experience in law enforcement is the first step to rediscovering their mission, but we can do better.
