How does the Division of Child and Family Services make changes, and how does it get held accountable?

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Child abuse and neglect is a serious and continuous problem, one that Child Protective Services and the Division of Child and Family Services work to stop. The job that these agencies has is not an easy one, so how do they make changes to ensure better outcomes? And what happens when they fail?

Tonya Myrup, Director for the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), spoke to ABC4.com about the changes the agency has made in the year since Gavin Peterson’s death.

Gavin Peterson was a 12-year-old boy from West Haven, and he died because of child abuse and neglect from his father and stepmother, who both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison time for his death.

Myrup said that her heart goes out to Gavin Peterson’s family and his biological mother, but the agency didn’t want to add onto their trauma or interfere with their healing, so instead they reached out to the community and other stakeholders for their input.

“We wanted to really focus on what can we do together to prevent this from ever happening again,” Myrup told ABC4.com. “DCFS is an agency that is committed to continuous quality improvement,” she added.

Myrup stressed that anyone who has a concern that a child is being abused or neglected or suspects abuse or neglect should call the hotline at 1-855-323-DCFS.

There is also an online referral on their website, and there are also parenting help and resources at strongfamilies.utah.gov.

What kind of changes has DCFS made?

One way they’re improving is through a new intervention, known as Family Action Meetings.

“This process is focused on intervening as early in the case as possible and as soon as those safety concerns are identified,” she explained. “So, through this process, we’re able to bring all of the resources together to get the supports at the table and to really help us thoroughly assess the situation and provide safety, and we’ve been piloting this with some really encouraging results.”

The agency has also been working to make personal connections with local schools, so that schools feel comfortable reaching out when they have concerns and so that they have a specific person at the agency they know.

“Our partners in education play such an important role, and we want to ensure that we have a good pathway for communication,” she said.

In the wake of Gavin Peterson’s death, Myrup said that the agency has worked with child advocates. “We’ve had the chance to talk with some child advocates to hear their story, their perspective, and to really talk with them about their experience, what we can learn from this.”

The Gavin Peterson case also brought awareness of child abuse and neglect to the community, and people are able to talk about it more openly, according to Myrup.

Another change DCFS has made is with their own staff. “They’re members of the community, just the same,” Myrup said.

DCFS struggled with “crushing” turnover in the past, Myrup said, but since the state legislature and the governor supported a pay increase for social workers, their staffing issues have stabilized. By filling vacant positions, the agency is able to focus on supporting employees and make sure that they have a manageable workload.

What does oversight for DCFS look like?

Myrup explained how DCFS keeps track of all its information in a database, helping the agency keep track of calls made to the intake hotline and the work done with CPS in homes and out of homes. That information is, of course, protected by strong confidentiality laws, and only specific people are able to access it.

When it comes to holding DCFS accountable, Myrup said that there are several other agencies that provide oversight to DCFS. First, DCFS has an intensive annual audit performed by the Office of Services Review.

“As part of that, they interview parents, they interview children, and they really seek that feedback on the system,” Myrup explained. “And they use a tool to assess the safety, permanence and well-being of the child and family in that case.

She said that there is also a federal version of that state review. Additionally, the Office of Services Review conducts fatality reviews. Child protection ombuds within the Department of Health and Human Services investigate complaints from the public, and the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel reviews all of the other audits each year and makes recommendations.

“The helpful thing about that process is that with the fatality reviews, that’s some incredibly sensitive information,” Myrup explained. “So, the Legislative Oversight Panel is actually able to go into a closed session where we can talk openly about the specifics of the case and the interventions of DCFS and the actions that we took, which is really helpful.”

Finally, there is the Child Welfare Improvement Council, which is made up of different community partners, parents, other people with lived experience. Myrup said that the oversight process is a continuous one, and they are continually taking recommendations and suggestions into account and making changes.

DCFS makes changes within its own agency, and it also provides input to the legislature whenever legislators are considering child welfare issues.

“We provide data, research. Child welfare policy is really complex, and so we’re always willing to provide whatever information they might need so that we can help them make some informed decisions and good policy,” Myrup said.