OLA#: 016-03F

LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

TO: Honorable Members of the Board of Supervisors

FROM: Office of the Legislative Analyst

DATE: June 10, 2003

SUBJECT:Employee Suggestion #471: Family and Children Services Case Assignments

EMPLOYEE SUGGESTION

Assign cases from Family and Children Services to Child Welfare Workers based on the child's geographic location rather than on a rolling basis in order to minimize travel time and expenses.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

San Francisco Family and Children Services should consider assigning foster care cases to Child Welfare Workers based on geographical considerations wherever possible and appropriate. Clustering assignments by region will eliminate duplicative and time-consuming work by Child Welfare Workers. Potential cost savings from this change are difficult to quantify; however, by regionalizing assignments, travel expenses will be reduced. The greatest savings will occur in the more efficient use of employee time.

There are programmatic reasons that make regional assignment undesirable in certain cases. For example, if a child's foster care placement changes from one region to another, continuity of the relationship with the existing Child Welfare Worker should take precedence over regional assignment or siblings who can not be placed together should be served by the same Worker, regardless of region.

In discussions with San Francisco Department of Human Services, they expressed interest in the idea of regional assignment and are currently investigating the possibility of implementation. The Board of Supervisors may wish to have DHS report on their progress in this matter.

ANALYSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS

When a child who is a resident of San Francisco is placed in foster care out of the county, it is the responsibility of San Francisco Family and Children Services to continue serving that child until the age of 18. Currently, cases are assigned to Child Welfare Workers on a rotation basis, with each new case being assigned to the Child Welfare Worker at the top of the rotation list. This system of assignment ensures even distribution of the caseload among workers, but is inefficient in several ways. Because cases are assigned regardless of geography, one Child Welfare Worker may travel to Sacramento to make a home visit, then to Fresno to make another, then to Oakland to make a third. The next day a different Worker may make the same trip to Sacramento to see his or her case. If cases were assigned regionally rather on a rotation basis, employee travel time and the associated expenses could be reduced.

At present, there are 36 budgeted positions for Child Welfare Workers in the Family Service Unit, which handles longer-term placements and would be the Unit primarily affected by this policy change. Two of these positions are currently vacant, which is standard, and 7 are on leave. According to the DHS February 2003 Quarterly Report, the Family Service Unit has a caseload of 737. Of cases that are placed out of home with relatives, 47 percent are in San Francisco, 47 percent are out of county, and 6 percent are out of state. For placements with non-relatives, 52 percent are in San Francisco, 45 percent are out of county, and 2 percent are out of state.

Methods of Case Assignment by Other Counties

Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County assigns cases to Child Welfare workers based on the special needs of the child. Family and Children Services has separate units for special needs such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, and adolescent cases. Within units, cases are assigned to workers geographically, with the worker's place of residence taken into consideration. For example, if a Child Welfare Worker lives in Modesto, he or she primarily will be assigned children with foster care placements in or near Modesto. In this way, if the Child Welfare Worker is making home visits for the day, a trip to the central office will be unnecessary.

Alameda County

Alameda County uses a geographical method of case assignment for cases within the county. Child Welfare Workers are assigned to either South County or North County and receive cases only in their region. Out-of-county cases are not regionalized; however, when a Child Welfare Worker is planning a home visit to a case out of county, that worker sends a voicemail to other workers and makes face-to-face visits to all cases in that area. Alameda County is currently looking into using geographical determinations for assigning Child Welfare Workers to group homes.

San Joaquin County

San Joaquin County, like San Francisco, assigns cases to Child Welfare Workers on a rotation basis. However, the County is currently using regional assignment for group homes.

Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County Family and Children Services has four divisions, one of which is for special needs, and three of which are regional-East, West, and Central. Child Welfare Workers are assigned cases only in their geographical district. When a child is placed out of county, Contra Costa arranges for courtesy supervision with a Child Welfare Worker in the child's county of residence.

Recommendations

San Francisco Family and Children Services should consider assigning foster care cases to Child Welfare Workers based on geographical considerations wherever possible and appropriate. Clustering assignments by region will eliminate duplicative and time-consuming work by Child Welfare Workers. Potential cost savings from this change are difficult to quantify; however, by regionalizing assignments, travel expenses will be reduced, including gas, tolls, and wear and tear on County cars. The greatest savings will most likely be seen in the more efficient use of employee time. An added benefit will be the development of Child Welfare Workers' expertise about their assigned region's local resources. However, there are programmatic reasons that make regional assignment undesirable in certain cases. For example, if a child's foster care placement changes from one region to another, continuity of the relationship with the existing Child Welfare Worker should take precedence over regional assignment. In addition, siblings who can not be placed together should be served by the same Worker, regardless of region. In discussions with San Francisco Department of Human Services, they expressed interest in the idea of regional assignment and are currently investigating the possibility of implementation. The Board of Supervisors may wish to have DHS report on their progress in this matter.