http://www.statesman.com/news/local/cps-struggling-with-staffing-shortage-backlog-of-1-2263503.htmlCPS struggling with staffing shortage, backlog of 1,000 cases in Travis County
By Juan Castillo
March 26, 2012
The state agency that investigates child abuse and neglect has about 1,000 cases in Travis County that have gone at least six months without being investigated beyond the state's initial contacts with children and families, a backlog created by understaffing in Austin.
Texas Child Protective Services is pulling in investigators from across the state to help clear the backlog in Austin and other such accumulations in the Midland-Odessa region, where about 500 cases are affected by understaffing.
A Dallas child abuse prevention advocate said the manpower shortage in Travis County is so severe that child abuse deaths in Travis County last year totaled 13, more than twice the annual average in the previous eight years.
Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins said officials couldn't link the staffing crisis to the increase in deaths, but they acknowledged that investigation delays create additional risks for children.
The agency had no prior family involvement in seven of the Travis County cases involving deaths, Crimmins said.
Although two Travis County youths died of abuse in 2011 while the agency was investigating, he said, "even in those instances we cannot link specific outcomes to a general shortage of investigators."
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The agency has struggled to keep new hires, Crimmins said, citing competition for state jobs as a contributing factor.
Officials have stepped up efforts to hire and retain investigators, he said.
"And although our salaries and technology support is much improved, the job of child abuse investigator is just not for everybody," Crimmins said.
"The daily realities of the job, what an investigator sees and experiences, over and over again, are harsh and unsettling."
Crimmins said the agency's goal is to be at full staff of 93 investigators statewide. Currently, it has 40 investigators, with 35 more in training.
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Normally, investigators are supposed to visit children and families within several days of a report. They also, though not necessarily immediately, interview alleged perpetrators and confer with adults who regularly have contact with the alleged victims.
Crimmins said that in most of the backlogged cases, investigators made initial contacts with children and sometimes family members before the cases were set aside.
While the backlogged investigations are considered less urgent, at least of the time of the report, they are still in need of investigation, Crimmins said.
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