Missed Goals & Budget Cuts Adds to New Jersey's Child Welfare Concerns

MORRISTOWN, NJ, September 06, 2012

Recently, the U.S. District Court Judge who is in charge of supervising the court-appointed monitoring of New Jersey's child welfare system voiced his concerns regarding budgetary cuts to the department's funding. Specifically, the judge's concerns stemmed from a recent $11.5 million cut to New Jersey's Department of Child and Families -- which includes the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS).

In response to the budget cuts, the Star-Ledger reported that federal judge Stanley R. Chesler was concerned that "[e]very gain which we have made will start to vanish," after being briefed on the state's Department of Child and Families recent attempts to improve their performance.

Improvements Needed in New Jersey's Child Welfare System

This current budget cut adds additional hurdles to a department that has been struggling with perceived poor performance in recent years. In fact, the state of New Jersey settled a lawsuit in 2003 which originally alleged that the state's child welfare system was so poorly managed that it did much more harm than good to the children it was supposed to protect -- eventually spurring the appointment of a court monitor and prompting repairs to the system itself.

Unfortunately though, the overhaul to the state's child welfare system has had limited results. In a recent report -- which was presented to Judge Chesler by the court-appointed monitor -- the Department of Children and Families only met 20 of 54 court-ordered improvement requirements from July 2011 to December 2011. The report further indicated that the department missed 24 requirements and "partially" met seven.

Even with these less-than-stellar numbers, Judge Chesler voiced his belief that things may turn around as he told the court it is his "obligation to ensure that whatever is needed for this (reform and improvement of the agency's services) to continue will be done," as reported by the Star-Ledger.

Tragically, improvements are coming at a very slow pace for a department whose mistakes can have such a detrimental impact to the children of New Jersey. On a daily basis, DYFS removes children from their homes -- sometimes removals are based on suspicion alone with no evidence. Even though department employees believe they are acting in the best interests of the child, it is hard to place such trust and authority in a department that is so riddled with performance deficiencies.

If you have facing a DYFS investigation or your child has been removed from your home by DYFS, you may want to speak with an experienced family law attorney to be advised of your rights and options.