A fan from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky tapped me on the shoulder to remind me just how jacked up child welfare in Kentucy was.Like I actually forgot.
Anyway, for those who are not familiar, here is a bit of a backgrounder:
Kentucky Cash Cow Flips Off Inspector Generals
Now, that you are up to speed, allow me to continue with the story.
My Kentucky fan was awestruck when I made the declaration, again, that the Council On Accreditation which accredits child welfare organizations is under/with/in cahoots the U.S. Department of State.
Well, the "under/with/in cahoots" thing struck me with awe because I have previously heard of such a relationship.
It is called the Quasi-Governmental Organization.
I know of a Quasi-Governmental Organization called the Detroit Land Bank Authority.
It sucks just like the Council On Accreditation, which has a long and perverted history of covering up domestic and international human trafficking and child welfare fraud.
Then, guess what....
The Council On Accreditation is "under/with/in" cahoots with the same entity as the Detroit Land Bank Authority.
That "under/with/in cahoots" entity is called by many names, but is recognized as the Clinton Foundation and they are all up in Kentucky, just like Michigan, and a lot more states.
So, I continue to read the article, below, and when I get to the last paragraph, I figured it out.
The Quasi-Governmental Entity, defined by "The Elected Ones" of Kentucy, goes like this:
"Quasi-governmental entities (QGEs) are not defined in Kentucky statute, nor is there an agreed-upon definition from the relevant literature. This report adopts a 2011 Program Review definition that states quasi-governmental entities are created by governments to serve public interests but maintain a legally separate status. Board members often are appointed by government officials, and government officials may serve on a governing board. The board usually hires an executive officer who serves at the pleasure of the board.
QGEs usually have a common vested interest with the state or local governments, such as local health departments’ concern for the general health of the local population. Special districts are considered QGEs for the previous Program Review report and this one because of their quasi-independent status and the typical characteristics of their boards. The US Census classifies special districts as special-purpose governments that “are established to provide only one or a limited number of designated functions” and that have “sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as independent governments.”Kentucky is being infiltrated by the privatization scheme of the QGE/QGO and is funding political campaigns, on both sides of the aisle, to make sure the plan of complete governmental takeover is successfully executed.
As for Commissioner Adria Johnson, seen in the video, below, the jury is still out deciding if she is covering up, or just dumb as dirt.
I wager on the latter.
(UPDATE FROM MY KENTUCKY FAN: Audria Johnson was never qualified for her position. She was an cpa with the Brown Tobacco company and got in tight with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramsom, who brought her to KY DCBS when he was lt Gov.
The pension is a billion dollars unfunded give or take a million . . . .strong Clinton ties to former AG Jack Conway and current Secretary of State Allison Grimes.
worse funded pension in the country.
Watching the video . . . is "accreditation" really code word for bribes to government entities to keep receiving money . . . and why be accredidated if other states are not?)
Guess who just so happens to be a private equity partner with Kentucky Chamber of Commerce?
As for the reason why nothing has been done in Kentucky to improve its child welfare system, well, there is too much money to be grabbed "under/with/in cahoots" the privatized NGOs.
Conditions are dire within Kentucky's child welfare system. It was re-accredited anyway
Conditions are dire within Kentucky's child welfare agency, with caseloads soaring beyond acceptable national standards, according to a recent report by a legislative committee.Turnover is high among social workers, and their numbers have been outpaced by the surging number of children removed from homes because of abuse or neglect, said the report by the state Legislative Research Commission.
At least half the workers say their caseloads have become "unmanageable," and the agency doesn't have enough money to hire additional staff even as reports of child abuse and neglect have doubled in the past six years. Earlier this year, the federal government found Kentucky failed to meet any of the seven standards it uses to measure basic child protection efforts.
But on Oct. 9, the state announced that the private Council on Accreditation had renewed the accreditation of the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, the social service agency that includes child protection.
That means that the department's "child and adult protective services and foster care and adoption meet the highest national standards and deliver the best quality services to the community," according to a press release from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
In a video the cabinet posted on its website announcing the results, Adria Johnson, commissioner of the department, said achieving accreditation for another two years is "a big deal."
"We are very, very proud," she said, "It means we are providing exemplary service to our consumers."
"We are very, very proud," she said, "It means we are providing exemplary service to our consumers."
She added: "Congratulations, Kentucky!"
But others are skeptical, given the recent findings of a yearlong review of the cabinet's child protection system conducted for the legislature's Program Review and Investigation's Committee.
The report, conducted by the Legislative Research Commission, was released at its Oct. 12 meeting.
State Rep. Jim Wayne, a Louisville Democrat and licensed clinical social worker, said the accreditation gives a "false impression" given the extent of the state's long-running problems with its child protection system, which some advocates have described as a crisis.
"I can't believe if you've got that LRC report showing all that information, how overworked the staff is, how they could be accredited by any national body," Wayne said. "It makes you wonder if we don't need to inform the accrediting body ... so they see how deficient they are."
Richard Klarberg, president of the New York-based Council on Accreditation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment after asking a reporter to email questions to him.
Cabinet spokesman Doug Hogan said the accreditation includes a broad survey of the department.
“The accreditation process looks at the whole child welfare and administration process to include items such as buildings, safety, training, ethics, personnel administration and other areas," he said. "We are extremely proud of the fact that Kentucky is one of only four states in the country to earn this distinction from the Council on Accreditation.”
But the LRC report noted several instances in which Kentucky appears to be out of compliance with basic standards of the accreditation council, including:
► Caseloads. While the council recommends caseloads of no more than 15 cases per worker, Kentucky's numbers have consistently been higher, ranging from 25 to 32 cases per worker — also higher than the state's "target" of 18 cases per worker, the report said.
It said that excessive caseloads twice this year triggered a mandatory report social service officials must make to the legislature and governor when average caseloads per worker reach more than 25 cases for 90 consecutive days. The department made such a report in January, when the average number of cases was 29, and again in May, when the average reached 32, the report said.
► Home visits. Personal contact between social workers and children and families they serve is a priority of the accrediting council, but Kentucky was penalized for the past two years for failing to complete the required amount of monthly visits by workers to children in foster care, the report said. The federal government cut 1 percent of the money sent to Kentucky in 2015 and 2016, resulting in additional state costs of $57,926 each year, the report said.
► Lack of workers. The accrediting council recommends enough staffing to keep caseloads at 15 per worker but Kentucky — with about 1,135 workers in December 2016 — has nowhere near enough staff, the report said. At the time, it had 108 vacant positions but even with those filled, the average caseload would be around 23.
Meanwhile, demands are rising on social workers. About 8,500 children are in foster care, a 24 percent increase since 2011, while the number of workers increased only 7 percent during that time, the report said.
To get caseloads to 15 per worker, Kentucky would need to hire an additional 731 workers, bringing the workforce to 1,866, the report said. It also said the state needs to consider requesting enough money to hire more staff and increase compensation for social workers, who start at about $33,600 a year.
The legislative program review committee, which sought the report last year, has not acted on it.
Though it received the report Oct. 12, the committee skipped any discussion of it, using the entire meeting to grill Attorney General Andy Beshear about a $24 million settlement reached with a drug company by his predecessor, Jack Conway.
Some Republicans on the committee told Beshear, a Democrat, they thought the settlement was too low although Beshear told them repeatedly he had nothing to do with it.
Rep. Lynn Bechler, committee co-chairman and a Marion Republican, said the report will be the first item on the agenda for the committee's next meeting Nov. 9.
Bechler said he's reviewed the report and found no surprises. Some of it mirrors issues he's heard about as a member of the House Adoption Work Group, appointed by Speaker Jeff Hoover to review obstacles to adoption and how to improve Kentucky's system to reduce the number of children in foster care.
Bechler, himself a former foster parent, said his impression is that the state's foster and adoption system isn't set up for the "best interests of the child" and believes that should be changed to cut the waiting time for children.
As for the report's call for more money for more social workers and better salaries, Bechler said he's not optimistic given the state's funding shortfall and the public pension crisis.
"That's probably a long shot," he said.
This looks like another project for the #DOJ.
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