Child Protective Services Managers Julie Ahnen, Brenda Blanck, data and analysis by program analyst Ariel Barak
In our not so humble opinion, The Dane County Child Protective Services (CPS) staff is the best in Wisconsin. We are fortunate to have high quality, dedicated professionals working with some of the most under-served and under-represented in the Dane County community.
When fully staffed, CPS employs 92 outstanding people, including 2 Managers, 10 Supervisors, and 78.75 FTE professionals. These dedicated staff perform a variety of functions including:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, CPS experienced a significant reduction in reports in Dane County, similar to what happened across the country. The summer of 2020 was a time of racial reckoning with many organizations, including Dane County CPS, making intentional practice changes to address persistent disparate outcomes for families of color.
As you can see in the graphics, between 2018 and 2022 Dane County CPS experienced a 40% reduction in reports and a 38% reduction in the number of Initial Assessments completed. A review of the data between 2018 and 2022 shows that the number of Initial Assessments that resulted in a finding of maltreatment remained fairly steady.
A number of federal, state and local practice changes and initiatives that likely contributed the reduction in reports and completed assessments. These changes highlight Dane County’s commitment to preserving the family unit based on a growing body of evidence that children achieve their best outcomes in life when raised in strong, healthy families of origin. A few are highlighted below.
CPS is governed by federal, state, and local policies and laws. The most recent federal legislation is the first major change in the focus of federal and state funding. The child welfare field has been mainly funded through out of home care – states received the majority of federal reimbursement through the placement of children in out of home care. In 2018, the federal government finally changed the ability of states to receive federal reimbursement for efforts aimed at keeping families together. Research overwhelmingly supports that children and families thrive together, not apart. We are fortunate that our Dane County community supports best practice and supplements state funding to support family unity.
The State of WI Department if Children and Families developed this program within the Family First legislation framework to assist counties in paying for needed safety services, support and basic needs while keeping children in the home rather than placing them in out of home care. CPS professionals work tirelessly in engaging families, assessing for safety and developing plans with families to keep children safely in their homes. These plans can include paying for basic needs (housing, food, clothing, etc.) and services to monitor plans as well as engage families around change. Dane County is able to access state/federal funds under the TSSF program to pay for these goods, services, and staff time. Dane County CPS developed a TSSF unit, funded through state TSSF funds in the 2023 budget to include a supervisor, social worker, case manager, and two parent peer support positions. We are excited to welcome supervisor Angie Sadler leading this unit alongside social worker Akiko Shinozaki. We are hopeful to fill the case manager and parent peer support positions in the near future. This unit will continue to support the work our Initial Assessment and Ongoing staff are doing with families to reduce the number of children removed from the home and reunify children currently in out of home care in a timely manner.
With an increased focus on safety and intensive engagement with parents over the past decade, CPS Ongoing has seen a significant reduction in the number of children in out of home care. Looking back to the end of August, 2013 there were 271 children in out of home care while at the end of August this year there were 180 children in out of home care-a 33% reduction!
CPS Ongoing recently welcomed manger Brenda Blanck to oversee all ongoing functions and TSSF. We are fortunate to have five CPS ongoing units serving the Dane County communities, 4 units of ongoing social workers and one unit of social service specialists, each having a supervisor leading the team. You will see CPS ongoing workers in three different buildings – NPO, JCO, and SMO. CPS Ongoing mainly serves families under a juvenile court order. The roles and responsibilities of a CPS ongoing worker vary greatly and include everything from meeting families all over the community, transporting families, supervising family interactions, engaging community resources, and all facets of court work, to name just a few. CPS ongoing is a team serving all facets of case management to best meet the needs of our community.
Recently, CPS staff have been advocating for support and supplies to promote proper hair care for African American children placed in out of home care. Initial outcomes involve the Social Service Specialist Unit maintaining a supply of hair care products for parents to use during family interactions.
The Access unit takes reports of child maltreatment. We also offer consultations to mandated reporters. This provides the reporter the opportunity to discuss their concerns and engage in conversation regarding whether the concerns meet the legal definition of maltreatment. During these consults, workers provide feedback to callers if additional information needs to be gathered, what the reporter can do to support the family and community resources that may be beneficial. Consultations may also result in a CPS report.
Feedback from reporters has been very positive and they appreciate having time to consult and talk through their concerns. One example of a consultation call would be to discuss domestic violence concerns in a family, how that may impact the children and what factors CPS considers in those type of cases. Access workers appreciate the opportunity to connect with our partners in the community and engage them in a mandated supporter role.
The Access team began tracking data on consultation calls at the beginning of the summer, a time when our call volume is lower. In June, the Access team had 123 consultations which was 27% of all the calls to the reporting line. In July, there were 83 consultations which was 18% of the total calls.
CPS staff have engaged in extensive research and discussion around historical practices and assumptions regarding mandated reporting. In WI and nationally, there is a movement to rethink mandated reporting and move community members to view themselves as mandates supporters of families. Dane County’s training focused on helping mandated reporters understand their legal obligation under the law with a focus on encouraging them to think critically about whether or not they have “reasonable cause to suspect” abuse or neglect as defined in the state statutes. Highlighted in the training are long-standing racial disparities that exist in Dane County CPS, starting at the point of reports made by mandated reporters. Participants are asked to consider the role that implicit bias plays in making decisions about reporting to CPS and challenges people to take action with families to help problem-solve and connect them with community resources and supports.
The Access Team continues to review research and updates the training they present alongside CYF Supervisors and Manager Julie Ahnen. The Mandated Reporter training is offered regularly via zoom and we aim to help participants understand the Chapter 48 definitions of maltreatment, to understand the CPS system and how invasive an investigation can be, and be aware of themes of race, oppression, power and privilege, and how that impacts who is reported to CPS.
If you have questions and/or are interested in taking the 2 hour virtual Mandated Reporter training, please email MRT@danecounty.gov.
This growing and evolving unit in CPS provides voluntary intensive case management with families who are referred for assessment with concerns of neglect but do not require formal ongoing services. Interventions focus on addressing the underlying issues that result in families being reported to CPS. Emphasis is placed on helping families stabilize around basic needs and overall wellness.
