I like to call it an asset forfeiture database.
So, for almost 15 years, Nancy Edmunds has just allowed Michigan to continuously dump millions into privately contracted failures, UNISYS, having to dump more money to improve the system to improve performance.
When there is a need to improve performance, that means there are errors in the system.
Errors in a child welfare system are called kidnapping, human trafficking, drugging, rape, torture, beating, attempted and successful suicide.
Errors in a child welfare system are also called Medicaid fraud, but whatever you do, do not tell Nancy that.
Once again, Michigan has successfully slithered through the court, again, to continue another year of trying to figure out how to do more stealin' of the children, the land and the votes because JooYeun Chang has saved the day and is now running Michigan's Children's Services Agency!
She is clueless and so is Vivek.
She sounds like she just graduated, full of passion and propaganda.
FYI: Absolutely nothing she identified as her goals for the Children's Bureau ever happened, but it surely did sound pretty.
At least she mentioned the overuse of psychotropics, but made no mention about using foster children as lab rats.
#perkinscoiesucks
State child welfare officials announced the decision while briefing U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds on how the state is caring for children who were removed from homes due to abuse and neglect.
Edmunds heard from attorneys and the state welfare officials on improvements and progressas part of a court-oversight update in connection with a lawsuit brought by the New York-based Children's Rights child welfare rights organization 13 years ago.
Computers that caseworkers use to document cases and log intake of children as were highlighted as a major concern at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The computer system, which went online in 2014, has cost the state $231 million,
JooYeun Chang, the executive director of the state Children's Services Agency, told the judge the old computer system will be phased out and will be replaced by a newer one.
"We're going to build a new system one area at a time so that they make sure the new system works," Chang told Edmunds.
The judge told Chang: "I hope that can be accomplished quickly. This has been a hindrance (to the state's child welfare system)."
Chang told reporters following the hearing she expects a new system will be in place within five years.
Robert Gordon, director for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said he will seek funding for the new system from the Michigan Legislature. He said half of the cost for the computer system is paid for by the federal government.
"We need to perform better as a department in the way we manage technology," Gordon said after the hearing. "We're focused on improving our performance."
Simple glitches such as having to input data multiple times are among the problems plaguing the system, said Gordon.
Replacing the troubled computer system is among the reforms MDHHS is pursuing to resolve the lawsuit, which was filed in August 2006 by Children's Rights to address concerns about the state's foster care system.
The lawsuit alleges that children's constitutional rights were being violated because the state failed to move them quickly into safe, stable permanent homes, provide them with medical services, and prepare youths who age out of foster care.
in addition, the state's child welfare system was poorly managed, underfunded and lacked sufficient staff, which further put children at risk of harm, according to the suit.
Chang told Edmunds the children's welfare agency is making changes that include helping relatives of children in the foster care system get licensed and become providers for the youths.
Other changes in the works: eliminating the state’s compliance reviews of cases up to two years old, focusing efforts to prevent child maltreatment on the activities most directly related to stopping it, and getting youth into effective programs, such as the Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care program.
Samantha Bartosz, the deputy director of litigation strategy for Children's Rights, told the judge she feels the group and the state have reached a "sound resolution" in moving forward on the issues that prompted the lawsuit.
"The modified approach will deliver sounds results for children," Bartosz said.
After the proceedings, she said the reforms reflected a more than decade-long struggle to have the system regulated to better serve children and protect them.
"There are safety regulations in the agreement now," Bartosz said. "They are committed to staying on top of important safety measures."
JooYeun Chang, Child Welfare Leader for Obama Administration, Now Heading Up Michigan’s System
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| JooYeun Chang |
JooYeun Chang, a veteran of child welfare policy and practice, is now the senior deputy director in charge of the Children’s Services Agency at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Chang joined the agency, which is led by Robert Gordon, in late May.
“With JooYeun’s deep knowledge of what works, her diverse experiences, and her passionate commitment, we can help many more children achieve safety, gain permanency, and ultimately realize their potential,” Gordon said, in a statement announcing her hiring.
Chang got her start in child welfare policy as a staff attorney at the Children’s Defense Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based organization founded in the 1970s by Marian Wright Edelman. Chang was then brought on by the Seattle-based grant maker Casey Family Programs, which is focused on reducing the number of youth in America who come into foster care, as its senior director of public policy.
In 2013, Chang left Casey to join the Obama administration as its associate commission for the Children’s Bureau, the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that administers most federal funds for child welfare. The bureau oversees Title IV-E, the central entitlement program for federal funds to support foster care payments and adoption subsidies, as well as federal spending on family preservation and independent living programs.
Chang left in the final year of the administration, and resumed her role with Casey Family Programs.
“JooYeun Chang is an incredibly talented and committed leader and change agent. I have had the opportunity to work with her in a variety of ways since 2007, and over those 12 years, her commitment to the well-being of all children and families has remained her focus and has never wavered,” said Casey CEO William Bell, in the statement announcing Chang’s new position. “Michigan will benefit greatly from her leadership.”
In Michigan, Chang inherits a state that has been under a court-monitored settlement agreement since 2008, the result of a class-action lawsuit filed against it by Children’s Rights. Last September, an audit of the agency she now leads found it had often failed to complete background checks or conduct proper interviews in the course of investigating maltreatment claims.
Unlike many of its Midwest brethren, Michigan has not seen its foster care totals skyrocket in recent years as the opioid crisis fueled a spike in removals. In fact, according to federal data, Michigan’s foster care total declined from 14,522 to 11,918 between 2012 and 2017.
JooYeun Chang, testifying at a 2014 Senate hearing about child trafficking and re-homing. Photo: Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The state has indicated its intention to delay implementation on a federal law aimed at keeping more youth out of foster care. The Family First Prevention Services Act, signed into law in February of 2018, enables states to use the Title IV-E entitlement for certain substance abuse, mental health and parenting services to avoid the removal of children from their parents. The law also puts limits on the use of IV-E funds for the placement of youth in group homes and other congregate care environments.
States have the option of delaying implementation of the law until 2021. As of June, 27 states including Michigan had formally notified the Children’s Bureau of an intention to delay.
Casey Family Programs was a key player in fomenting support for the law, and continues to support efforts to help states move toward implementation of it. Chang was front and center in those efforts, so it will be interesting to see if Michigan now moves more quickly on Family First.
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
1 comment:
Robert Gordon in in D.C.
http://beverlytran.blogspot.com/search?q=Robert+Gordon
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