Total 650 words used.
Indiana, like the entire country, is in the midst of a Child Welfare capacity crisis. Allegations of abuse and neglect continue to pour into hotlines and workers struggle to keep up with demand. While this has been a national issue for quite some time, the pandemic amplified the problem when worker shortages and health concerns reduced the workforce by over 50% in some areas. In an area where government makes life-saving decisions, Indiana saw the number of late child abuse assessments begin to skyrocket and feared the integrity of their safety process was in jeopardy.
While the state’s aging technology system was due to be replaced, there was no time to wait for the multi-year project to deliver the results the state needed today. Leadership chartered a team of internal experts to review how work was done and re-imagine a new process to keep up with the growing volume. To help them in the journey, they partnered with the Change and Innovation Agency, a company with a proven track record of helping human service departments build capacity.
Together, they broke down the process of determining child safety in the 115,000 abuse and neglect reports received through closure or placement in an alternative home. Audits of state safety decisions proved their practice was sound, but the time needed to process the work - approximately seventeen hours for a safe child, and forty for a child removed from the home - proved too much when workers were receiving 3-5 new reports per week. To keep up, the department would need to double in size.
Unfortunately, growth was not an option. State resources were at capacity in every area of government and the department had challenges filling their already open positions. In the height of a pandemic, no one wants a job where the primary function is going into a strangers’ home. Indiana had to find another way.
The team learned that of the work required to make a decision, only about a third is spent with the family. Additionally, in the 45-60 days it took to complete a case, work really only occurred in the first three and last three days. In the first days, we see the child and assess their immediate needs. In the last days, we document and get agreement on the direction. In between, workers are juggling all the new reports, the tasks that need completed, and the deadlines that need to be met.
This is where the team focused their attention. They built a centralized unit with the sole purpose of supporting the social worker and moving a final decision closer to the first three days. This unit, accessible by phone or computer, is made up of experienced state supervisors available as soon as any worker has a safety decision to offer their expertise, and in most cases handle the required documentation tasks and close the report for the worker instantly. This approach saves 8-10 hours of work time per report, and completes them within days, not weeks.
SafeACT, the safe assessment closure team, now completes nearly 80% of the statewide workload. Alongside the worker who sees the child, this unit now assures that the right children get the right care at the right time. The result is an amazing 65% reduction in open reports in the first year. Workers can now keep up with demand and spend more time with families in order to assure the right safety decisions are being made.
This innovation has already reversed the dangerous trend of getting further and further behind. More reports are being closed timely, and the quality is improving. By combining the two most critical steps in the process into one step that is instantaneously available to staff and supported by experts in their child welfare practice, Indiana offers an unmatched level of practice support. Simply, it helps the state maximize their resources and save more children.
