TESTIMONY ON CHILD ABUSE 
TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
GENERAL WELFARE COMMITTEE  
BY COMPTROLLER ALAN G. HEVESI 
 
DECEMBER 19, 1995 
 
        I would like to thank Chairman Steven DiBrienza and the other members
of the General Welfare Committee for giving me the opportunity to testify this
morning at this hearing on child abuse. 
        We all share some measure of guilt in Elisa Izquierdo's death, but we will
share much more guilt in the death of the next Elisa if we do not act
quickly and firmly to prevent the deaths of more children.  
        The question now is how do we turn that sorrow, anger and guilt into
action?  How do we make sure that there are no more such deaths?  The best
way to do that is to understand what went wrong and then design actions to
deal with those problems. 
        In this testimony, I would like to start by discussing what we have
learned about problems at the Child Welfare Administration and then make
some proposals for what to do. 
        We must recognize that there are many dedicated workers in CWA.  They
work under very difficult conditions.  They are poorly paid, poorly trained and
poorly equipped.  Often they do not have proper supervision and support and
cannot get access to all the information they need.  Despite these
handicaps, every day they face the grim task of investigating child abuse. 
And the fact is that thanks to their dedicated work, many children are
pulled from abusive homes and many children's lives are saved.  As we focus
on what has gone wrong, we must also remember to thank those who are
working hard to do the job right. 
        On the other hand, we must hold child protective workers to a very high
standard because their mistakes can severely hurt and even kill children. 
However, it is unrealistic to expect them to meet those standards if they
are not given the necessary resources. 
        One thing we have clearly learned is that caseworkers have not received
the training they need to perform their job.  Child protective workers,
known at the Human Resource Administration as "Protective Diagnostic"
workers, only have to have a college degree to be authorized to do their
work.  In addition, State law says that they have to take a training
course.  However, the law does not require them to pass a test to
demonstrate that they have actually learned what they were taught. 
        Earlier this year, the Comptroller's Office publicized the fact that may
trainees at the Satterwhite Academy were getting low scores on their tests
after their training and were still becoming front-line caseworkers making
decisions about children's lives. Historically, HRA child protective
trainees have answered correctly less than 60 percent of the questions in
the final exams. 
        CWA responded positively to this information.  The agency has modified s
training program to deal more with the practical issues that caseworkers
face in the field.  In addition, starting in August 1995, as a condition of
continued employment, trainees were required to pass a competency test. 
Since then, nine trainees out of a class of 66 were dismissed due to their
failure to score at least 70 percent on the final exam. 
        We commend CWA for this progress.  A testing requirement is noteworthy
improvement. However, this is a recent development and many of the existing
child protective workers on the front lines have not been put to the same
test. 
        Moreover, CWA recognizes that basic training and competency testing is
not enough.  There is a further need for in-service training during
caseworkers' 12 month probationary period and the development of an
evaluation mechanism to be used during and at the end of this 12 month
period to measure competency in the field. 
        This can only be accomplished with a skilled training staff.  But the se
of the CWA training staff has been substantially reduced and will continue
to diminish. In 1993 the training staff was reduced from 76 to 38. As of
December 1, 1995, after the effective date of the most recent buy-out, the
staff will be reduced to 26, four of whom are clerical.  In addition, four
of the seven full time trainers will be spending the next 18 months
training 8,000 caseworkers at CWA and all the voluntary agencies on the new
risk assessment protocols. That leaves very limited resources for initial
and in-service training for all CWA workers, not just protective service
staff. 
        Even the best trained, most experienced caseworker can only be effective
on a limited number of cases.  It is important that caseloads be set at
levels that enable investigators to do a thorough job in every case. 
        To do their jobs well, workers must have effective supervision and case
management by knowledgeable and qualified personnel, including reviews of
individual cases on a timely basis.  They should have social workers
available for consultation.  They should be encouraged to seek guidance
from workers with more experience or specialization and have ready access
to such assistance.  Too often this is not the case. 
        Caseworkers also need ready access to information.  Unfortunately, from
our audit of the HRA Foster Care Tracking and Claims System we know that
CWA does not have a reliable information management system. Its current
system for tracking children in foster care -- those for whom CWA is the
legal custodian -- is sorely deficient. 
        Our auditors found that the official record had incorrect addresses for0
percent of the children in care.  Five percent of the children in care were
listed as living at the CWA headquarters at 80 Lafayette St., even though
more than half of those children had been in foster care for more than two
years. 
        There is also a lack of information on children who are the subject of
abuse or neglect allegations. There is no reliable system that allows a
worker to see if there have been prior allegations involving the same
family.  It is even difficult to find out on a timely basis the details
surrounding a previous case of established child abuse or neglect involving
the same family. 
        We understand that CWA is to be computerized in late 1996. The project
must be kept on schedule.  But something must be done in the interim to
improve case management and information flow. 
        The problems at CWA have been highlighted in a recent suit brought agait
the agency, the City and the State.  I am not prepared to comment on that
suit, but the cases described in it are painful to read and a further
reminder of the importance of acting immediately.  
        Now, I would like to suggest some responses.  The caseworkers are our
first and most important line of defense against child abuse.  They are the
ones who must decide when to take action and what action to take.  We must
ensure that they are properly trained.  
        Our staffs have been working together on legislation to address this
issue.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and Margaret
Nelson of your staff for working with us on this important legislation.  
        First, we propose that the HRA training academy be accredited by a
nationally recognized child welfare institution.  This would help ensure
the quality of training given to supervisors and to caseworkers.  My staff
has solicited some informal proposals for accrediting the HRA training
academy and the cost estimated for such accreditation appear minimal. 
        Second, we propose the creation of an independent, expert panel, much on
the order of the Child Fatality Review Board, which would develop a
certification examination for caseworkers and supervisors.   
        Third, caseworkers are on probation for their first year.  This
probationary period should be formalized into a period of on-the-job
training during which caseworkers serve as apprentices and at the end of
which they are retested and dropped if they fail.  The Police Department
has the right to drop trainees who do not successfully complete training. 
CWA should have the same right. 
        I have with me a letter in support of competency testing from Cornell
University.  Cornell is responsible for training all upstate,
non-New-York-City, child-abuse investigators. 
        Fourth, standards should be set for supervisors.  Candidates for
supervisory positions should also have to pass a test designed to
demonstrate their knowledge of how to manage child protection personnel. 
        This legislation, I believe, is long-overdue.  Although child protective
legislation is typically the purview of State law, there is little chance
of state action on caseworker training.  My friend, State Senator Leichter
will testify today that he has indeed offered similar legislation, to no
avail. 
        In addition to training, there must be effective monitoring.    The only
to ensure that CWA does its job is to institute effective performance
measures that focus on service provided and outcomes for children.  Every
system must have accountability.  The only way to have continuing
accountability is through a set of standards and reviews so that successes
and failures are identified immediately.  That way everyone can learn from
success and management can focus on solving problems before they lead to
fatalities. 
        The Mayor has responded to Elisa's death by appointing an investigation
panel led by Commissioner of Investigation Wilson.  The panel includes only
members of the Administration.  I would like to take this opportunity to
recommend that the Mayor expand that committee.  When a crisis arose in the
Department of Youth Services, a task force was created including
representatives from the Administration, the Comptroller's Office and KPMG
Peat Marwick.  That task force promptly and efficiently investigated the
problem and produced an indepth report that accurately identified problems
at the agency.  That model could be just as effective in this case. 
        In the long term, I think the City should consider setting up a Board of
Child Welfare to provide continued independent, outside monitoring of the
performance of CWA.  This Board should have subpoena power and an ability
to review whatever records it needs whenever it needs them.  Members of the
Board should be appointed by the Mayor, the Public Advocate, who is the
City's ombudsman, and the Comptroller, who is the City's auditor.  Board
members should be approved by the Council for fixed terms, removable only
for cause by the Council.  
        Elisa's death has already produced one important result -- increased
public awareness and an increased willingness to intervene on behalf of
threatened children.  The State Central Registry has been flooded with
reports of possible child abuse. 
        Those reports will be meaningless unless we institute the kind of reforms
this hearing is addressing. 
        Thank you.    
--