Essay on Department of Human Services

The Department of Human Services is an agency that looks after the welfare of a child. They provide and promotes safety, well-being and permanency for children and youth who at risk of neglect, abuse, and delinquency. In Pennsylvania, every county has a child welfare agency that investigates the child abuse, the neglect and offers help to those families through programs like therapy, home visits, parenting classes among others. However, although they are meant to protect children, the process the caretakers have to go through can adversely affect children in the system that is designed to protect them.

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The department of Public Welfare in Philadelphia was first established in 1919 and in 1920, it created a bureau within that department to care for the children who were dependent and were warding in the city DHS: History. Since then, case law, state laws, and city ordinance have expanded and defined the functions of what has come to be known now as Department of Human Services, Youth and Children Division. In 1955, a county code that elaborated the county duties toward children and youth. Later in 1967, the Act 91 was passed in August. It gave all the Pennsylvania public county agencies dealing with child welfare the duties and powers to investigate reports of abuse in children. The Child Protective Services Law was amended once more in 1994. It significantly changed the way the county protects its children.

DHS has many branches each with defined roles. The Child and Youth Division (CYD), is responsible for all the investigations reports on child abuse and neglect DHS: Services. If the reports meet the Pennsylvania definition of abuse on a child, investigations are started immediately. The Performance Management and Accountability division that monitors the delivery of services to the children and families entrusted to them. Also, the Juvenile Justice Services division (DJJS) which develops the countys budget for delinquency services by operating the county juvenile detention center and contracting with private providers for treatment services. The Division of Community Based Prevention Services (DCBPS) which has committed to providing the social support that strengthens families at risk and allows them to thrive in their own communities CLS: Testimony on Philadelphia DHS

The DHS various programs that the children go through, help protect them and the youth from abuse and neglect. The primary one is the child protection program that aims at protecting children who have neglected or abused and ensure that their immediate safety from threats and impending dangers. CYD is the one tasked with this program DHS: Services. Another program is the foster care and adoption which is tasked with providing temporary foster homes while the social workers and family work together to reunite the children with their families or remove them permanently meaning adoption. The delinquency program aims at addressing the service needs of youth that are chronically truant. First-time youth offenders with minor charges but have not formally adjudicated in a family court are at the highest risk for delinquency. Also, there is the prevention program that strives to address the underlying problems that lead to neglect, abuse, delinquency and support children at risk before their situations before more severe. Lastly, PMA program that develops systems which monitor service delivery to the children and the families entrusted to its care.

The process starts with the reporting of suspected abuse or neglect on children which done to the CYD at any time or through a state hotline. The reporter must be a mandated one like a child care worker, a doctor, or a teacher. Also, reports can be made anonymously by anyone else like a neighbor or family member but if the reporter gives a name it is not revealed DHS: Report Neglect. This practice is enforced strictly. Abuses may range from physical abuses which may be non-accidental and serious, sexual abuses by an adult or an older person, emotional abuse that attacks the emotional development of a child. Lastly, neglect which the act of withholding or failure to provide a child with the basic need of life like food, shelter, clothing, attention to hygiene, medical care, or the supervision needed for the optimum growth and development. Once the report is made, DHS does a thorough investigation and makes several decisions that include determining whether the report is true or not, if the child is safe, or whether the family needs assistance to safely care for the family.

There are a number of findings that the DHS can find after an investigation. One, they find that there is nothing wrong thus closing the investigation without any court involvement or providing any services (CLS 2-3). Second, it may offer help and services to the family after getting concerned. They may get immediate concern of the child and offer a safety plan which a voluntary agreement between DHS and the parent or guardian. It has several arrangements that include someone else moving in, or out or any other number of possible arrangements to ensure that the child is safe as the agency works with the family. If there emerges a possibility that the child may not be safe and that the safety plan may not work, then DHS takes the family to court. The court decides whether to remove the child or a shelter care hearing within 72 hrs. or have a hearing after 30 days with the child in the familys custody.

When a child is found after an investigation, DHS may take several steps. They may assign one to a Community Umbrella Agency (CUA) that works with families in Philadelphia. The provide all the case management services to help in stabilizing the childs family or reunite with the child. If a child is removed a hearing is scheduled to happen within 72 hours commonly known as the Shelter Care hearing (CLS 2-3). DHS always tries to find a kinship placement with a close relative or family friend. Once the child is placed in out-of-home care, the time is limited to getting reunited with the child because of the federal law called the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). It states that a Permanency hearing should be held to decide on the long-term goal for the child not later than 12 months after the placement at a foster care. If the child stays longer than that DHS/CUA can move to terminate parental rights.

Over the past several years, there has been an astonishing rise of children in DHS custody. When CUAs first started taking cases, there were only 4100 children in their custody. Today there has been a 50% increase in the replacement rising to 6100 (CLS 2). An analysis conducted recently showed that Philadelphia has the highest rate of child removal compared to other cities in the country. It makes the city the second-highest rate of removal in the country. Child removal rate due to poverty is four times that of Chicago and three times that of New York City (CLS 2).

However, DHS has taken various steps to help improve its care in the past decade. They have made reforms that largely relied on outsourcing child welfare services to private contractor companies. Its main goal is to provide additional support for families and care for children in their homes Raz: DHS Must Rethink Care. For instance, the DJJS division of DHS contracts the services Casey Programs and the Crossover Youth Practice Model to build stronger collaborations with Juvenile probation, Family Court and other stakeholders in child welfare so that youths can be more dependent and delinquent.

Currently, Philadelphia has the highest rate of child removal from their homes in the country. Too many children in the city are shuffled through foster homes and institutions, to their detriment. These devastating separations mainly occur to low-income families of color. The common reasons for removal in Philadelphia are mainly due to drug abuse and not neglect or abuse. Children who are in imminent danger and requires immediate removal from their homes remain poorly identified.

Moreover, Children who have been placed in foster homes, are more likely to experience substance abuse, homelessness, and delinquency most of them dropping out of school. Abuse is common in both in foster homes and institutions of care. An additional challenge happens when there is a high turnover among individuals who care for our children. Deaths of children placed in foster care have occurred highlighting the risks of fragmented care of children in foster care.

The DHS family cut the red tape when they laid the foundation for the alignment of their organization, performance management, and continuous improvement by finalizing the strategic plan and setting goals for the department (OCFY 2). All this is in an effort to keep the family unit intact. The goals were to improve the outcomes for the children and youth, increase community presence, improve operational efficiency and to improve the DHS public perception.

Finally, the best interest of the child is to reunify with the family without any delays. The law also requires that reasonable efforts be provided to help the family reunify. Strict timelines by the federals for the planning of permanency reflect the policy rationale that children should not spend much time in the foster care (CLS 12). With timely and meaningful support and services, most parents are able to correct the safety concerns and reunite. But, without cash assistance, there exist economic related obstacles to reunification. However, in 2013 a $ 3-million-dollar effort was launched that aimed to reunite parents suffering from substance abuse with their children. (DBHIDS 1).

In conclusion, it is evident that there complex and rather tiring process faced by the caretakers as they follow the DHS system which ends up harming the children by denying them the joy of a loving family.

Work Cited

"Commentary: DHS Must Rethink Care of Children and Families." Philly.com, www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160916_Commentary__DHS_must_rethink_care_of_children_and_families.html.

"Center for the Study of Social Policy / Child Welfare / Community Partnerships for the Protection of Children." Center for the Study of Social Policy, www.cssp.org/reform/child-welfare/community-partnerships-for-the-protection-of-children.

"DHS | Department of Human Services." City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs/history.html.

"DHS | Department of Human Services." City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs/services.html.

"DHS | Department of Human Services." City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs/reportNeglect.html.

"Testimony on Philadelphia DHS and Improving Outcomes for Children (IOC)." Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, clsphila.org/learn-about-issues/testimony-philadelphia-dhs-and-improving-outcomes-children-ioc.

City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs//pdfs/cob2015.pdf. https://clsphila.org/sites/default/files/issues/Community%20Legal%20Services%20DHS%20Tra nsition%20Memo.pdf

City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs/pdfs/childwelfare.pdf.

City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, https://clsphila.org/sites/default/files/issues/Part%201%20-%20DHS%20Investigations%20and%20CUA%20Services_0.pdf

City of Philadelphia: City of Philadelphia, www.phila.gov/dhs/pdfs/NBPB_1516_Narrative%20Template.pdf.

Home - Child Welfare Information Gateway, www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/family_reunification.pdfPennsylvania. Office of Children, Youth and Families. Needs Based Plan and Budget Narrative Template: 2013. Harrisburg, Pa.: The Office, 2013. Print. Read more