The Department of Human Services (DHS) is struggling to accurately and timely identify who is qualified to receive assistance, costing the state millions in misspent assistance dollars and millions more in potential federal sanctions and lost incentives, said a report from Auditor General (OAG) Thomas McTavish released on Friday.

DHS, which is responsible for determining eligibility for cash, food assistance, childcare and Medicaid cases, didn't effectively catch or fix errors in determination in the four years reviewed by the audit, from October 2002 through November 2006, the audit said.

Among the chief finds of auditors was that DHS mistakenly sent out payments in fiscal year 2006-06 in 7.5 percent of cases, which the report attributed to ever increasing caseloads from workers.

Although DHS has made strides in its system, the error rate in Michigan in 2005-06 was still 1.5 percent higher than the federal government tolerates, opening the state to economic sanctions much like the $89 million the federal government initiated for the fiscal years 1995-02.

Not only is Michigan inaccurate in its approvals but it's slow, too, the report said.

Michigan ranks 45th in its turnaround time with 81 percent of clients receiving approvals within the 30 days required by the federal government. That compares to Massachusetts , which ranked first and informs nearly 99 percent of its clients about their case status within a month.

In order to progress further, DHS said, it needs more "resources," because, although officials agreed with many of the audit's suggestions, they can't comply with them without more funds.

Among the fixes the department said it would initiate with more money is a study of how many workers it needs to handle caseloads and what tasks could be done by other staff members to increase worker availability for clients.

With more than 75 percent of workers and 87 percent of managers reporting that caseloads are too high, the study will likely find that more staff is needed, but the department said it can't hire more workers without additional funding.

As usual, the Department immediately cries "We need more money! We need more staff!" They told the OAG they would use additional dollars to "do a study". In fact, the OAG said that "DHS did not conduct a workload analysis to determine optimal caseworker staffing levels" and not only did they not do that last year, they hadn't done it in 2001-02 after being told they should by the Auditor General. So now they say they will if we give them more money?

You may read the audit for yourself. Here is the link: http://audgen.michigan.gov/comprpt/docs/r431028505.pdf

Does DHS need more staff? Do they have too many managers and not enough case workers? It is hard to get those answers; the Department is not forthcoming. The bottom line is the Department of Human Services has been woefully inefficient and inept for years and it continues to be in spite of repeated Audit Reports reporting the problem and even suggesting the solution. This is a problem that cannot be fixed by the OAG and it cannot be fixed by the Legislature. It must be addressed by the "Executive". That's right folks; I am talking about the governor and her department heads.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but my Transparency bill, which would expose the entire state budget, including that of the DHS, to the sunshine for everyone to see and closely examine, would go a long way toward resolving many of these issues.

On March 12, 2008, a joint committee of the Legislature met to ask for answers from the Department. What was their answer? We need more staff. We need more time. We are implementing a new program in the NEXT TWO YEARS. Once we have that in place, it will be better.

Here is hoping that Director Ismael Ahmed, the recently appointed Director of DHS can effectively address the issue.

What is Going on in the House?

To keep abreast of bills moving through the House of Representatives, check my blog. I will be posting when the House is in session at www.CorePrinciples.blogspot.com

We only have 175 signatures to go, thank you all so much. I was so surprised to see people from Australia, Germany, Portugal, and even Canada have taken a minute for this important cause, You guys are wonderful. What a great Valentines day gift it would be to have my baby returned.We don't have much time left, this petition will be submitted with court documents. These documents will be ready today or tomorrow, so please keep spreading the word.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/in-support-of-lisa-and-bella-smith-2#signatures

Thank You friends,
BellasMom06

• American Bar Association's Lawlink
• ABA - Dialogue on Freedom
• The American Judicature Society - A nonpartisan organization of judges, lawyers, and non-legally trained citizens interested in the administration of justice.
• American Law Sources Online
• Courts.net - Indexed List to U.S. Court Sites
• Davidson County District Attorney's Office - website provides enhanced information about the office to victims, witnesses, members of the community, and the media.
• Federal Register
• FindLaw , A Comprehensive Legal Site Search Engine
• Institute for Court Managment (National Center for State Courts)
• Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ)
• National Criminal Justice Resource Center
• JERITT Project - a national clearinghouse for information on continuing judicial branch education
• Judicial Family Institute
• "Kids and the Law" from California Bar Association
• Law and Politics Internet Guide - (Legal resources)
• Lipscomb University Institute for Conflict Management
• Nashville Bar Association Appellate Practice Manual
• Nashville School of Law
• National Center for State Courts - A comprehensive listing of State, International and Federal Courts
• SEARCH -National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics
• State Justice Institute
  
• CTAS - County Technical Assistance Service, University of Tennessee
  (Complete Listings of County Officials)
  
• TennHelp - A project of the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services
• Tennessee Association for Child Care
• Tennessee Bar Association - disciplinary process explained
• Tennessee Bench-Bar CLE
• Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR)
• Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI)
• Tennessee Code Annotated (on Michie site)
• Tennessee County Information (Info from the National Association of Counties )
• Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education and Specialization
• Tennessee Criminal Law Defense Resources
• Tennessee Attorney General Opinions
• Tennessee Board of Law Examiners
• Tennessee General Assembly  (For current legislation - choose "Bills" from site's menu.)
• Tennessee Legislature Chaptered Bills
• Tennessee District Attorney Generals' Conference
• Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program
• The Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (TLAW)
• Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice
• Tennessee State Agency Rules and Regulations (Non-judicial)
• Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society
• U.S. District Court - Middle Division
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Opinions)
• United State Sentencing Commission
• U.S. Supreme Court
• University of Memphis School of Law
• University of Tennesse College of Law
• University of Missouri - Kansas City - Famous Trials - Detailed Historical Accounts
• Vanderbilt University Law School
• Villanova School of Law

All agencies by law must make their rules and regulations public. Some do it online or you can go into the offices and read them. Usually you can find them by going to your States homepage and type in the name of the agency and read their policies. Once you do this, you then should make a list of every policy they violated and send a copy to the CPS worker, supervisor, your lawyer, the guardian ad litem, and file it with the clerks office. No matter what is said in court, NOTHING matters except what is in the court file. I have learned that if something is in the file, even if it is not true, the court assumes it to be true because it is not disputed. The Judge has to be able to make a decision just by reading the file, so it is very important you get your side in that file. You just type up a statement of facts, what happened in your case, it doesnt matter if you dont know the law, just get your story in the record. Most importantly, know that you can appeal to the Circuit Court, which is the best thing to do in my opinion, because that is a State court and the are much more likely to follow the law and the rules. Something Juvenile Court has proven to me not to do. I have also learned, you can not be afraid to stand up for yourself. If CPS is involved they have already made their decision and you must fight and let them know you arent going to make it easy to steal your children. This is the policy guide for TN Department of Human Services. http://state.tn.us/sos/rules/0250/0250.htm

Truth Commission Findings and Solutions

Fourth Battered Mothers Custody Conference (BMCC IV)

January 13, 2007 Albany, New York

Testimony to the Truth Commission

Truth Commission Members:

Richard Ducote, Esq, Chair; Nancy Erickson, Esq.;Barry Goldstein, Esq.; Eileen King;

Patti Jo Newell; Connie Valentine, M.S.; Gwen Wright; and Joan Zorza, Esq.

Special Thanks to Mo Hannah, Ph.D., Truth Commission Coordinator

Sixteen women testified before the Truth Commission at the Fourth Battered Mothers Custody Conference about their family law cases, which covered eleven states.

The common theme that emerged from the testimony is that there is a widespread problem of abusive parents being granted custody of children and protective parents having their custody limited or denied, and/or being otherwise punished.

There is a crisis in the custody court system, which has resulted in thousands of children being sent to live with abusers while safe, protective parents, primarily mothers, are denied any meaningful relationship with their children.  The court system has failed to respond appropriately to domestic violence and child abuse cases involving custody.  The Commission found many common errors made by the courts and the professionals they rely upon which contribute to these tragedies.  These same mistakes have negatively impacted battered women and children in other cases, with less extreme results.

From these and other case histories, and issues raised by concerned professionals throughout the country, the Commission made the following findings and proposals recommended for further study. Not all members of the Truth Commission agree with every proposed solution, but all members are in agreement that solutions need to be developed to address these findings.

for complete report click here  http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/index.htm 

Please share and repost so others may use this information.

My letter to the Editor in regards to a story about 1200 kids being adopted out this year.

 

 Please post a response to the paper also. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/22/adoptions-growing-grinch-cuts-trees/comments

In Saturday's editorial page the News Sentinel writes about Viola Miller's main goal being to adopt children out. That is not something I would be proud to say if I was her. While it sounds noble the bigger question is how come that adoption money isn't being used to provide services to families, so they can stay together?

Now, I acknowledge that some kids are truly abused and need to be safe. Out of the 1200 who were adopted out, I would bet money only 100 of them truly needed to be.

Why would they do that? MONEY of course. If you look at the Courts own reports, how many cases were reported has physical abuse? No, they like to use the term neglect, because it wont hold up in criminal court. The excuses for neglect are not what one would think either. Like not feeding a child or giving medical care. They use messy homes and children being reported for wearing mix match socks. How do you go from that to terminating a parents rights?

It would be very newsworthy if you sampled even 5% of those 1200 kids and see why they were initially removed from their homes in the first place.

There are reasons The Governor, and The Department of Children's Services had to be sued by an out of state agency. ( Brian A settlement by Childtrens Rights.org and why they have been found in contempt yet again.

You told the feel good side of the story and thats great, we all need it. Now please report the other side of that story.

Regards,

TheAdvocate06

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Posted By The Advocate06 to Juvenile Court/DHS Fraud &, Failures in Knoxville, Tennessee at 12/24/2007 09:38:00 PM

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