FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE OCO

The OCO receives complaints from the public with respect to children who (i) have been alleged to have been abused or neglected, (ii) are receiving child protective services (CPS), (iii) are in foster care, or (iv) are awaiting adoption. The OCO can investigate complaints that allege that administrative acts taken regarding such children by the Virginia Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or children’s residential facilities were:

• contrary to law, rule, or policy;
• imposed without an adequate statement of reason; or
• based on irrelevant, immaterial, or erroneous grounds.

We can also investigate child fatalities when the child victim’s family was involved with CPS or foster care prior to, or at the time of, the child’s death. The OCO can recommend and advocate for changes in law, regulation, or policy to improve Virginia’s child welfare system. The OCO also can assist constituents in understanding and navigating the child welfare system. The OCO operates under the guiding principles of independence, impartiality, and confidentiality to best serve its constituents.

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS

Data.

Data reported in this Annual Report reflect our work within the state Fiscal Year 2023 which ran from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.

Complaint Data.

The OCO received a total of 446 complaints in Fiscal Year 2023. This is an increase of 165% compared to Fiscal Year 2022 during which time we received 168 complaints. Increases in the number of complaints received are expected as more constituents become aware of the OCO. Of the complaints received, 77% moved beyond the intake stage to become a preliminary assessment.

The most common allegations from complainants were (i) inadequate services (e.g., services did not meet the needs of the children or parents, lack of provider referrals, delays in services); (ii) improper family assessments or investigations (e.g., no interviews of siblings or other collaterals, no observation of home environment where the alleged abuse took place, no review of important records); (iii) placement changes; (iv) visitation (visits were limited, delayed, or infrequent); (v) improper validation or screening out of CPS referrals; and (vi) foster care diversion. Many complainants also alleged agency bias against them, unresponsiveness and communication issues, and lack of family engagement (e.g., no family partnership meetings, no contact with relatives).

Investigations Data.

Of the complaints received in FY 2023, the OCO initiated 15 investigations. Of these, 14 investigations focused on local departments of social services and one investigation involved a licensed child placing agency (LCPA).

Recurring Issues, Findings, and Recommendations.

Support for Alternative Living Arrangement Caregivers.

The OCO received several complaints from relatives who were caring for children under alternative living arrangements (ALAs), which are used by many local departments of social services as an alternative to placing children in formal foster care. Among the allegations made by the relative and fictive kin caregivers were the following:

• They were not provided any financial support to take care of the children.

• They were not given the option to become an approved foster home for the children.

• They had challenges with supervising the parents’ visits with the children.

To address these issues in the cases we reviewed, we made the following recommendations:

• Family partnership meetings (FPMs) should be held as soon as the need for an ALA is identified to discuss options for kinship caregivers to ensure the family receives the necessary financial support and services.

• Developing safety plans that clearly set out terms and conditions and the expectations of each party, including visitation arrangements for the parents and the supports to be provided each party to facilitate the arrangement.

Documentation.

We found that documentation was often lacking in most of the cases we reviewed in FY 2023. Information properly documented can often help us find answers to complainants’ questions and help us resolve complainants’ allegations without our office having to contact the local department and disrupt staff’s busy schedules.

Documentation is even more important for the local departments, as the historical information that is captured is invaluable when there are worker changes, new referrals, or case transfers.

Placement Changes.

We received several complaints involving children who experienced multiple placement changes without any of the required procedures taking place. When a change in placement occurs, local departments should follow the procedures set out in state guidance in the VDSS Child and Family Services Manual, Part E, Section 6.10.

Foster Parent Expectations.

We reviewed several cases where the actions of the foster parents complicated the efforts to achieve permanency for the children. Foster families should be given realistic expectations about the goals of foster care. Foster parents should be provided meaningful training that equips them with the necessary skills to support the children’s natural relationships with their parents and cultural upbringing.

Communication.

In several cases we reviewed, there was a breakdown in communication among family services specialists, licensed child placing agencies (LCPA), and LCPA-licensed foster families. Foster care agreements should be reviewed and discussed before children are placed in LCPA homes to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and expectations between child welfare professionals and families serving children in foster care.

We also reviewed cases that demonstrated a breakdown in communication between local departments’ internal CPS and foster care units. The lack of interdepartmental communication between the CPS and foster care units adversely impacts service delivery, case planning, and trust between the families and the local department.

CHILD FATALITIES

We received 50 notifications of child fatalities that met our statutory criteria in FY 2023, compared to 31 such notifications received in FY 2022. Nine children were in foster care at the time of their death. Twelve of them were involved in open CPS cases at the time of their death: seven CPS Family Assessment cases, including three Substance Exposed Infants (SEI) Family Assessments; three CPS investigations; and two In Home Services cases.

Twenty-seven of the children were aged birth to six months. Eleven children were between the ages of one and five years. Nine were five to eighteen years old.

Of the 50 child fatality notifications we received, eighteen of the children were reported as substance exposed at the time of their birth. In 27 cases reported to us, there was a history of CPS involvement related to parental substance use, including six cases where siblings of the decedent children were reported as substance exposed at their births.

Unsafe sleep, such as co-sleeping and unsafe sleep surfaces, continues to be a leading factor in child deaths among the cases reported to the OCO, with 21 children’s deaths reported to the OCO (42%) tied to circumstances indicating unsafe sleep conditions. The OCO remains very concerned with the number of children born substance exposed that die within six months of birth. We recommend a review of the protocols in place that are established in law, regulation, and policy and across agencies to ensure that these children are better protected.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT

Legal Representation for parents in child dependency cases

The judicial system plays an important role in the child welfare system. In Virginia, the number of attorneys willing to accept court appointments to represent parents in child welfare cases has decreased dramatically due to low compensation and lack of training and support. As a result, parents are not getting the legal assistance needed to protect their custodial and residual parental rights over their children.

The OCO recommends consideration of the following actions:

• Increase the cap on the rate of compensation paid to attorneys who are appointed to represent parents.

• Direct the Judicial Council to develop standards of performance with which court-appointed attorneys for parents would be required to comply.

• Establish demonstration sites to pilot a multidisciplinary model of legal representation for parents that has been shown to decrease the amount of time children remain in foster care in other states.

• Direct the Virginia Department of Social Services to amend its Child and Family Services State Plan to claim federal Title IV-E administrative costs for the provision of legal representation for children and parents in child dependency cases.

Safe and Sound Task Force initiatives

The OCO supports the following initiatives arising from the work of the Safe and Sound Task Force:

• Kinship Care/Alternative Living Arrangement Legislation to improve support for relatives and fictive kin who seek to care for children and keep them out of formal foster care.

• Build out the continuum of high-quality services and placements for children in foster care at all levels of care.

Workforce support for local departments of social services

The OCO recommends efforts to support the family services workforce of local departments of social services, including the development of a family services training academy that will better prepare new workers and implementing recommendations to address the staffing issues identified by the recent report on Child Protective Services issued by the Office of the State Inspector General in September 2022.

Strengthening and preserving families

The OCO recommends expanding the availability of primary and secondary prevention services so that we can ensure the safety of more young and vulnerable children, such as home visiting programs. The OCO also recommends the implementation of the Whole Family Model (also called “2Gen"). Both models of supporting families have been shown to help prevent child maltreatment.

Support for Older Foster Youth

Driver’s licenses.

VDSS should partner with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Virginia Department of Education, and the Bureau of Insurance at the State Corporation Commission to determine necessary amendments to laws or policies to support the following:

• Better access for youth in foster care to driver’s education courses and resources to meet the guided driving requirements.

• Accommodations for youth in foster care regarding specific application requirements for proof of identity, residence, etc.

• More conducive policy terms governing insurance and liability issues for foster parents and local departments of social services.

• Exploring ways to reduce financial barriers associated with license and learner’s permit applications, driver’s education courses, and insurance premiums and deductibles.

Workforce Development.

The Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) and the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) have workforce development programs that can assist older youth in foster care transition to adulthood. Staff at local departments of social services and other agencies that work directly with youth in foster care should be made more aware of these opportunities and be provided information as to how to connect youth with the appropriate DOLI and DARS offices.