
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997               TAG: 9703010278

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:  142 lines

A NEW RESPONSE TO CHILD ABUSE NOW, WORKERS WILL INVESTIGATE ONLY SEVERE CASES.

Starting today, social services officials here will change the way they investigate child abuse.

As part of a three-year pilot program, officials will focus their investigations on the most severe cases, and handle less serious allegations by providing services to strengthen families and parenting skills.

This is a change from the procedure followed in most Virginia cities, where the mildest to the most severe charges are tackled with a full investigation.

Portsmouth's Child Protective Services unit is one of five agencies across the state piloting the new ``Multiple Response System'' to find out whether the entire state should adopt the method, which is designed to be less intrusive to families.

``We have been identified as the heavies and the bad guys in a lot of people's minds,'' said Carl Johnson, who supervises Portsmouth's CPS unit. ``That will continue to be necessary in severe cases, but the vast majority of cases are not severe.''

Johnson estimates that out of the 100 child abuse reports that Portsmouth generally receives each month, only 15 to 20 percent fall in the category that would need a full-fledged investigation.

Those cases, which include reports of sexual abuse and serious injuries, will still be investigated with an eye toward possible criminal charges. Less serious abuse and neglect cases, which could include an untidy house or a mark on the wrist, will be funneled down a different path that links families with support services.

In those cases, there will be no determination as to whether a report is ``founded,'' which means there's clear and convincing evidence of abuse, or ``unfounded.''

The names of people suspected of abuse in cases on the noninvestigative track would not be entered into the Central Registry, a system used by schools and day-care centers to screen potential employees. Previously, abusers in valid cases were entered into the statewide system for three to 18 years, depending on the severity of the abuse.

The three-year pilot program will also be conducted in York County-Poquoson city, Montgomery County, Loudoun County and Albemarle County. The 1996 General Assembly directed the state Department of Social Services to launch the Multiple Response System after a series of hearings that showed people felt the current system was more intrusive than it needed to be.

Portsmouth, one of nine Virginia localities that applied to participate in the program, will have not only the eyes of the state on its efforts during the next three years, but also those of the nation's social workers and child advocates. Other states are also searching for better methods of helping children and families.

``This will place Virginia and Portsmouth on the cutting edge of CPS practice in the United States,'' Johnson said. ``We will definitely be in the limelight.''

While the system is being hailed as a fundamental shift in the way investigators approach child abuse cases, some children's advocates outside the system are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

``It's a very new program that's still got a lot of question marks,'' said Betty Wade Coyle, executive director of the Hampton Roads Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. ``I think it will be a work in progress.''

She said she's concerned about whether enough resources are available in the community to help families, especially since churches and other nonprofit agencies are already overburdened. Welfare reform also could add more pressure to the equation, since community resources will be in greater demand. Also, child abuse and neglect reports could increase during welfare reform as families face more stress from losing benefits.

John Vaughan, president of the Children's Rights Council of Tidewater, also has concerns that allegations related to child custody disputes may get short shrift.

``We feel every report should be investigated,'' said Vaughan, whose organization includes mostly non-custodial parents. ``That's what their job is, to protect children.''

Gail Heath, program coordinator for the Eastern Region of the state Department of Social Services, said a more comprehensive method is needed to help children and their families.

``This method focuses on community collaboration,'' Heath said. ``CPS is not the answer to everything; the community needs to be brought in to help provide services.''

She said CPS workers can ``bump up'' a case from the services track to the investigation level any time they feel a child is in danger.

That element of the system, though, disturbs some parents.

``I call it the Little Red Riding Hood story,'' said Michael Ewing, president of the Virginia Fatherhood Initiative, a fathers' rights group. ``A welfare worker shows up as the nice grandmother, but she still can be the big bad wolf.''

A 40-year-old Zuni woman who, along with her husband, was investigated for abuse in Newport News said she believes the CPS system needs an overhaul, but she also has concerns about the dual roles of the case worker.

``The social worker is a prosecutor; that's the mind-set,'' said the mother, who didn't want to be identified because she's concerned the accusation, which turned out to be unfounded, could affect her husband's employment. ``You are not going to have prosecutors going in and helping people. To make it work, you need two entirely different systems - one to help families and another to be the prosecutors.''

But Heath said she believes the new system marks a return to the reason most case workers entered the field of social work: to help families.

Heath said the state will review the pilot project during the next three years to determine its effectiveness in protecting children, the cost of providing the services and the effect on CPS investigators' workloads, long considered dangerously high.

Johnson said he believes people involved in noninvestigative cases will be more open to discussing services - such as parenting classes and links to other social agenices - in a setting where they are not being threatened with punitive measures. In turn, investigators' work will be less stressful, because they will not be in a confrontational relationship with the client.

While support services were offered previously, Johnson said people were often resistant to the help because investigators had already gone through the process of interviewing teachers, neighbors and relatives.

``If you have made life miserable for someone for 45 to 60 days, branded them a child abuser, put them in the Central Registry for three years and then said, `Oh, and by the way, we'd like to offer some services to you,' what do you think the response will be?'' Johnson said. ``We won't have to do that any more, and I think it will make a big difference.''

Coyle, however, questions whether those people will have the trust in CPS or the inclination to accept services in a situation where they aren't under the threat of having their child removed from the home or their name entered in a statewide registry.

Portsmouth's status as a pilot site comes with a $10,000 grant to help pay for support services. Portsmouth will use the grant to contract with the Child Abuse Center of Hampton Roads, which provides medical and psychological treatment for children and families.

Johnson said implementing the new system may cost more initially but, in the long run, could be less expensive for CPS agencies. He said the number of appeals will probably go down, since fewer cases will result in having alleged abusers entered in the Central Registry.

And if the system is successful in the long run, Johnson said, the savings in terms of improving children's environments and strengthening families would be even greater.

``We will be working with families as an equal member in solving the problems and letting them have equal input,'' Johnson said. ``A family knows what their problems are, and we need to listen to them.'' ILLUSTRATION: MULTIPLE RESPONSE SYSTEM Child Protective Services

workers may investigate any report under the Multiple Response

System, but generally only the most serious child abuse and neglect

reports would receive a full investigation. Those cases would

include sexual abuse, child fatalities, reports involving a child

whom the local Social Services department has taken into custody,

fractures, severe burns, lacerations, mutilation, maiming, forced

ingestion of a dangerous substance, life-threatening internal

injuries and injuries resulting in disfigurement. KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE PILOT PROGRAM