Foster care agency may lose contracts

A review does not recommend renewal in Pinellas and Pasco.

By MELANIE AVE and CURTIS KRUEGER, Times Staff Writers
Published October 30, 2007

Kane Plaza, at Main St. and School Ave. in Sarasota is headquarters for Sarasota Family YMCA.
	[Handout]

State leaders may not renew a contract with the private agency that oversees abused and neglected children in Pinellas County, calling it a system in crisis.

Caseworker turnover recently exceeded 70 percent and some caseloads surpassed 40 children, according to a draft report by a state review team that examined the Sarasota Family YMCA's operations after two high-profile incidents.

The Sarasota YMCA, the oldest and largest of 20 private foster agencies in Florida, is now at risk of losing its two state foster care contracts worth $72-million.

The agency, also known as the Safe Children Coalition, operates in Pinellas, Pasco, De Soto, Manatee and Sarasota counties. It was the subject of recent St. Petersburg Times articles questioning its high funding and poor performance and detailing a questionable land deal in which it turned a $475,000 profit in one day.

The office of Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is also investigating the property sale.

Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Bob Butterworth said he has not decided yet whether to extend the Sarasota YMCA's contracts or open them to bids from other agencies.

Any decision must be made quickly because the Sarasota YMCA's contracts expire June 30. It's uncertain whether any other agencies would want to take over.

Butterworth declined to comment further until the review team's final report is presented to the Sarasota Family YMCA's board at a public meeting today in Sarasota.

"The dialogue created by the committee in this report is just the beginning of the conversations that need to take place," he said in a statement.

Butterworth requested the review, led by a DCF administrator, after the disappearance of a Pinellas County foster girl and the death of a Manatee County 18-month-old.

Sarasota Family YMCA chief executive officer Carl Weinrich said his agency will improve and will rebid for the contracts if necessary.

"We're able to do better, there's no doubt about that, and we can always improve," Weinrich said. "But I don't think it's going to take us that long to get back up there."

Other recommendations for the Sarasota YMCA include:

- Increasing community involvement and oversight.

- Raising caseworker pay and reducing turnover.

- Creating an ombudsman to regularly evaluate the agency.

DCF did not escape the review team's criticism: It said the agency needs to better oversee the Sarasota YMCA.

Nick Cox, the DCF's regional director in Tampa, said he wholeheartedly supports that recommendation, saying the problem is not limited to the Sarasota YMCA. Much of the agency's responsibility over all its contractors has slipped away as part of privatization.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," he said. "We've already rolled up our sleeves."

In Florida, 20 community agencies provide care for the state's 45,000 abused and neglected children. DCF oversees their contracts, doling out $719-million a year.

The Sarasota YMCA receives the second-largest amount in overall funding, yet last year it ranked among the bottom in performance.

The report rapped the Sarasota YMCA for failing to accept constructive criticism and for arguing that disgruntled former associates drummed up complaints about its performance.

"The part that was hardest for us to capture was the perception that we were defensive and arrogant," Weinrich said. "It's like telling a mom not to be defensive about their child."

The state's review team requested "immediate and aggressive steps" to stabilize foster care in Pinellas within 30 days.

The review team said it would not recommend the $49-million contract in Pinellas and Pasco be renewed primarily because of performance issues.

And unless the agency changes its culture and its attitude, the team said it would not recommend the renewal of the $22-million contract in the three other southern counties: De Soto, Manatee and Sarasota.

There "is no debate that the report performance of the Y South has declined over the past several years and that the performance of the Y North needs improvement," the report says.

Weinrich acknowledged the agency's struggles.

"If we're making mistakes, we're going to work hard to improve them," he said.

The Sarasota YMCA took over Pinellas and Pasco foster care in 2004 after another agency quit amid widespread mismanagement complaints.

At the time, it had won accolades for running programs in Sarasota and Manatee counties. But the agency's performance declined after the expansion.

The report draws a distinction between Pinellas and Pasco counties.

In Pasco, the caseworkers said that they feel well-supported by their managers and that they get a great deal of job satisfaction.

In Pinellas, the same types of workers said they were "running in crisis mode all the time. Line staff, as a whole, was demoralized and frustrated by high caseloads and huge workload and concern over their lack of preparation and training for the work."

But Pinellas supervisors, in contrast, felt that the problem of high turnover and caseloads "was now under control."

Ed McBride, senior program manager for the Sarasota YMCA in Pinellas and Pasco, said he's worried about what would happen if the contract goes to yet another agency.

It could be disheartening to caseworkers and managers who have been working hard to help the agency.

"That to me is disruptive," McBride said.

As state leaders decide whether to renew the YMCA contracts, the review team said they should consider the likelihood of another agency being capable of taking over the work.

The Sarasota YMCA was the only bidder last time.

Gay Lancaster, executive director of the Pinellas County Juvenile Welfare Board, wonders if another agency would want to take over, given the challenges.

"You're looking at a system in a bad state in this county," Lancaster said. "If I were a service provider, I would think very carefully about whether or not it was adequately resourced to solve those problems."

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Melanie Ave can be reached at mave@sptimes.com or 727 893-8813.

Review team's key findings

- The Department of Children and Families and the Sarasota Family YMCA need to take "immediate and aggressive steps" to stabilize a troubled foster care system in Pinellas.

- Because of the agency's poor performance in Pinellas and Pasco, its contract should not be automatically renewed in those counties.

- The Sarasota YMCA's culture and attitude should be improved or its contract in De Soto, Manatee and Sarasota counties should not be automatically renewed.

- DCF needs to better supervise the Sarasota YMCA.

- More community involvement and oversight of the YMCA is needed.

- Caseworker turnover is too high and salaries are too low.

- An ombudsman may be needed to regularly evaluate the Sarasota YMCA.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 23:33:51]