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Foster care in Pinellas faces more upheaval

Two private agencies have faltered in a program plagued by backlogs and turnover.

By MELANIE AVE and CURTIS KRUEGER, Times Staff Writers
Published November 4, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Pinellas County had a starring role in the state critique that came out last week on the privately run foster care system in West Central Florida. Unfortunately, it was the role of villain.

With deficiencies noted throughout a five-county area, Pinellas was singled out as far and away the worst of the worst.

Caseworkers were trying to keep up with 40 children at a time, the report found, and caseworker turnover last year was 86 percent. The workers felt no support from the home office, the Sarasota Family YMCA.

In Pasco, also under the Sarasota YMCA, more than half of the workers juggled fewer than 20 children; turnover was 46 percent.

Why do two counties, working under the same agency, have such different results?

Everyone agrees that problems in an urban county are more difficult to tackle, and that Pinellas is seriously underfunded.

But with the state now talking about booting the Sarasota YMCA from Pinellas, local leaders are not of one mind about whether that's the answer.

Some question whether another local group could take over such a massive system and show better results. More change, they fear, is a recipe for more tumult.

Others want the YMCA gone but with frontline workers and their subcontracted employers kept intact.

"What no one wants to see is a significant upheaval," said Browning Spence, deputy director of the Juvenile Welfare Board. "We've had that."

* * *

Two private foster agencies have now faltered in Pinellas in seven years.

Family Continuity, a private agency, pulled out in 2004 after four years and widespread financial problems. State officials then asked the Sarasota YMCA to step in and take over Pinellas and Pasco.

The Sarasota Family YMCA oversees about 4,600 foster children in five counties, through two $72-million contracts with the state Department of Children and Families.

In a scathing report last week, state reviewers described the Sarasota YMCA as arrogant and retaliatory with its subcontractors and foster parents. Its performance was so bad in Pinellas a "SWAT team" was needed to help with caseworker backlog and to stabilize the turnover.

Experienced caseworkers from around the state will begin helping out Monday, led by DCF administrator Alan Abramowitz, who recently oversaw a reorganization of Palm Beach County's troubled foster agency.

Sarasota YMCA officials welcome the extra help but said the Pinellas system, while not perfect, is not as bad as described.

Said Ed McBride, the agency's community-based care program manager for Pasco and Pinellas counties: "I can say unequivocally, the system is not in a crisis.

"Challenged? Yes."

* * *

DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth requested the review after noting that the Sarasota YMCA had become a highly paid but poorly performing agency. His decision came after the agency made serious mistakes in its handling of two foster children, including a Pinellas County girl who disappeared for nine months.

The Sarasota YMCA's contracts expire June 30. This week, Butterworth is expected to announce that instead of automatically renewing the Pinellas-Pasco contract, he plans to seek bids from interested agencies.

Local social service leaders do not agree about what to do.

Some prefer a locally controlled agency to oversee Pinellas foster care services. Others think the state should work through its issues with the Sarasota YMCA, while also providing more local control and involvement.

Spence said the Juvenile Welfare Board prefers a local agency whose only responsibility is Pinellas. "We're a large enough county," he said. "That local oversight we think is critical."

The county's state-required oversight group, called a community alliance, met last week for the first time in two years.

Ginny Rowell, a longtime St. Petersburg child advocate who chairs a Pinellas advisory group to the YMCA called Stakeholders, said she's not heard of another agency expressing a desire to take over.

"There aren't a bunch of people out there waiting in the wings," said Rowell.

The YMCA should be given a chance to improve, she said. "I don't see anyone out there any more capable."

Jim Mills, retired director of the Juvenile Welfare Board and a Stakeholders member, also supports a second chance for the YMCA if only to avoid more chaos. "The kids and foster families do not need their fruit basket upset."

Others are unsure what should happen, but they do want fast improvement.

"We hope everything stabilizes for the sake of the kids," said Pinellas sheriff's Capt. George Steffen. "We owe it to them to do the best we can to make sure they're safe."

The YMCA's McBride said the agency wants to keep its far-flung Pinellas and Pasco territory, but it also wants those communities to signal their support and for the DCF to give it a fair shake.

"If we feel we still have a chance," he said, "I'm pretty confident we'd bid on it."

* * *

No matter what agency ends up in charge, many people agree a more equitable funding system would help.

Sarasota YMCA chief executive Carl Weinrich said more money would allow him to hire more caseworkers in Pinellas like in its southern counties, where caseloads are among the state's lowest. More money would help reduce caseloads and curb turnover.

Last year, the YMCA received $17,982 per child for its southern counties, well above the state average of $12,540. In Pinellas, it received just $10,336.

Another answer could be better DCF oversight of its private agencies, said Lynn Richard, the DCF's former regional director in the Tampa Bay area who retired in March.

He said under Gov. Jeb Bush - who made privatization a hallmark of his tenure - much of the DCF's local oversight of the agencies was either transferred to Tallahassee or placed within the agencies themselves.

To stay on top of child welfare, Richard said, monitoring needs to be extensive, frequent and unbiased.

"These systems are large and take a lot of effort to set up," Richard said. "They don't get in trouble in a hurry, and they don't get fixed in a hurry."

Melanie Ave can be reached at mave@sptimes.com or 727 893-8813. Curtis Krueger can be reached at ckrueger@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8232.

A parent's dilemma

Pinellas School Board member Nancy Bostock talks about struggling to help her 11-year-old son, whom she adopted from foster care and recently returned to the system. In Floridian, 1E

[Last modified November 3, 2007, 23:27:04]