New Cases Strain Child Welfare Agency After Deaths of Four D.C. Girls, Firings

Cases of child neglect and abuse being investigated by District social workers have more than doubled in the past month, straining an already demoralized agency, after a flood of reports from people moved by the discovery of four dead girls in their mother's home, officials said yesterday.

As of Thursday, the Child and Family Services Agency had 810 open cases, up from 314 at the same time in December, spokeswoman Mindy Good said.

The average caseload for a social worker was 12 last year. Union officials who staged a rally outside agency headquarters yesterday said it is now 18. Good said she could not confirm the union's estimate, but she said the agency is trying to hire more social workers.

"They are working extremely long hours," Good said of the 315 social workers in the city agency.

The agency has seen a fourfold increase in reports of children at risk since Banita Jacks was found at home Jan. 10 with the bodies of her four daughters, who may have been dead for months. The agency logged 2,955 calls in January, compared with the 600 to 700 calls received in a typical month, though not every call resulted in an investigation.

"We have never had a spike like this," Good said.

Many social workers who were among 100 rallying outside the agency headquarters said they have been unfairly scapegoated by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who fired agency employees after the Jacks case came to light.

One social worker, who asked not to be identified, said some have felt pressure "in a subtle kind of way" to remove more children from homes after the Jacks case, not because of anything supervisors or public officials said or did but out of an excess of caution. "You can't blame people; nobody wants to take chances," he said.

Union leaders called the rally to lift spirits and to tell Fenty that "there is no 'Simple Button' to press to plug holes in the city's safety net for families and children," Geo T. Johnson, executive director of District Council 20 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said in a letter to Fenty that he distributed at the rally.

Union members and social workers stood under umbrellas, chanting, "No justice, no peace." Many dressed in black to show solidarity. The union is filing appeals for all six workers who were fired, Johnson said.

Less than a week after the Jacks girls were discovered and their mother was charged in their deaths, Fenty released a timeline of instances in which government agencies had contact with the troubled family -- contacts involving a nurse, a police officer, the courts, a city social worker. Fenty said the fired employees, including a hotline call taker and a division boss, "just didn't do their job."

The union countered that social workers are being blamed unfairly for a host of agency failings. They face "excessive" caseloads, lack adequate training and have limited access to government vehicles to carry out their jobs. Good said training is ongoing.

The dismissals "made us feel like children being punished," said one social worker, who asked not to be identified because bosses told employees not to speak to reporters.

"Morale is so low, and seeing people fired like this makes us feel like we have no job security," said the social worker, who has been with the agency 15 years but recently started a job search in another city.

After years of federal scrutiny, the agency had begun to comply with many court orders requiring improvements. The average caseload for social workers was 100 or more in the 1980s.

But union leaders said publicity from the Jacks case has prompted a flood of reports, driving up caseloads again.

"I have not had one day off in these past two weeks," said one social worker, who also asked not to be identified. "I used to get two or three new cases a week. Now I get eight to 10 new cases a week. To say I am stressed out would be an understatement."