Changes in child protection law ‘tied our hands’

BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Joyce Mills, the Department for Community Based Services supervisor in Martin County, discussed the evolving landscape of child protection in Kentucky during a Kiwanis Club luncheon Thursday at Shufflin Café in Inez. She emphasized the significant change brought about by the legislative overhaul under former Governor Matt Bevin that reduced the number of referrals and tightened the criteria for child welfare investigations.

“It tied our hands,” Mills said.

Mills explained that previously, her department could investigate if a child was at risk of abuse, neglect, etc., but that has changed.

“We don’t have an at-risk category anymore,” said Mills. “It actually has to be physical abuse, actual neglect, which is supervision, environmental or educational. It has to fall within one of those categories, or I can’t take it.”

The centralized intake system, operational between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., now filters calls and decides whether to investigate. Calls made after hours go to the local on-call supervisor, a position that Mills serves in Martin County.

Mills highlighted the legal constraints her office faces.

“If we don’t have a referral that meets criteria for investigation, we can’t go out in somebody’s home,” said Mills. “If someone calls and asks me to do a welfare check, I can’t do that. The police can do that—and I refer them to the sheriff’s office.”

When a police officer finds cause for an investigation, such as no water, electricity or heat, they contact Mills, who sends a worker out.

Mills attributes the drop in referrals in Martin County partly to the revised law.

“Our referrals went from 30 to about 15 a month.”

Previously, when a school employee called to make a report, Mills could categorize the report as “risk of” and send a social worker out to investigate.

“I can’t do that now,” she said.

Complaints to the central intake that do not meet the criteria for an investigation do not reach Mills’ office.

“I never know about it,” she said.

However, Mills still receives calls from schools and community members. She advises them to call in a report to central intake.

“They may not take it the first time, but keep calling it in,” she said. “They will try to find ways to get it in.”

Calls not meeting the “report” criteria are logged in the system as a “resource link.”

“What if they think a child is in danger?” Kiwanis member Susie Skyles questioned.

Mills explained the state cannot act on concerns or suspicions.

“If a kid discloses, ‘Hey, my dad whipped me with a board last night,’ they can take that. There has to be actual allegations,” she said.

Kiwanis president Melissa Phelps suggested the way in the “back door” to the local office is to call Martin County 911 and request a welfare check, for which a police officer will be dispatched.

Mills agreed, expressing her appreciation of local police officers and their important role in helping children in bad situations. She recounted a distressing story where local police discovered a toddler in a home with no heat and unsanitary conditions, wearing only a diaper. The child, who was seriously ill, had to be airlifted to a larger hospital for treatment of severe illnesses, including double pneumonia and an infection from animal feces that was present in the home. 

“It amazes me how these sweet kids come out of some of these homes.”

Kiwanis member Deresa Ray MacDonald asked Mills if the judge listens to her in these cases.

“They haven’t always, but [Judge Adam Scott O’Bryan] does,” replied Mills. “We can make recommendations, but it’s really up to him to make a decision.”

She added, “I’ve never failed to give my opinion.”

Mills prefers to err on the side of safety for a child. “If I mess up and put a kid in foster care, then say, ‘Hey, that parent is OK,’ and let that kid go back,’ but that parent is not OK and something happens, we can’t back up and fix that.”

In cases where children return to their parents, Mills’ office monitors them for at least six months.

“If I see a kid in a distressful situation, I do not lose a minute’s sleep about putting that kid somewhere safe,” said Mills. “What bothers me is when the parents do just enough to get the kids back, and I know that in two or three months, I’ll be removing that kid again. It makes it hard, but we have to do what the court tells us to do.”

Kiwanis member John Triplett questioned Mills about the changes in the intake process.

Mills attributed the issues to new computer software that Bevin acquired during the process of changing the law.

Phelps had her own thoughts: “In my opinion, it’s because we were No. 1 in the nation in referrals, and they were trying to cut down. And now we’re No. 5 or 6, so it’s not as bad.”

The change has also impacted the number of staff in Martin County.

“At one time, we had seven social workers and three supervisors,” said Mills. “Now we have one supervisor and four workers.”

The seven workers had a caseload of 25-35 cases each. Now the four workers have 15-25 cases each.

Mills believes methamphetamine is a major problem affecting children in the county.

“It’s rampant,” she said. “Dempsey Housing is overrun with meth.”

However, she quickly put to rest a rumor that her office was removing all the children at Dempsey.

“We do everything we can to keep children in their homes. It’s a last-ditch effort to remove them.”

MacDonald questioned Mills about educational neglect.

“It is almost impossible to get an educational neglect referral accepted,” commented Mills. “I don’t know the purpose of that. I’ve had people at school saying children have missed 30 days, and the state isn’t taking it as educational neglect. The state is saying the school has to prove that they have put services in the home with these kids and that the school has done everything they can do before they take it as a referral.”

Triplett brought up sexual abuse cases.

“I would say they’re trying to cut down on those referrals because it’s almost impossible to get one tried,” commented Triplett.

Mills stated the lack of trials in sexual abuse cases is an issue that lies with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office.

“One of the worst sexual abuse cases I’ve worked in years was two small children. They were human trafficked. We didn’t have enough evidence to prove the human trafficking, but it was definitely sex abuse. There were probably six to eight different perpetrators sexually abusing these kids. Then the Commonwealth Attorney’s office got back a ‘no true bill.’ How that happened, I don’t know.”

She added, “To protect these kids, all I need is an indictment.”

There is a need for foster homes within the county, according to Mills. “If we can place kids in the county, they can stay in the school system with their friends and the connections they have… It would be so good to keep them in the county.”

The luncheon with Mills concluded with a clear message: while the system has limitations, Mills’ commitment to protect vulnerable children remains unwavering.