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U.S. Government Faults Child Welfare Programs in All 50 States

Federal investigators have found widespread problems in child welfare programs intended to protect children from abuse and neglect, and no state has received passing grades from the Bush administration in reviews conducted over the last three years.

As a result, states face tens of millions of dollars in penalties. State officials said the penalties could make it more difficult for them to pay for the needed improvements.

About 900,000 children were victims of abuse or neglect in 2002, and 1,400 of them died, according to the most recent state data, compiled and reported this month by the Department of Health and Human Services.

No state fully complies with standards established by the federal government to assess performance in protecting children and finding safe, permanent homes for those who have suffered abuse or neglect.

Some states, including New Jersey and Florida, have received national attention because of scandals in their child welfare programs. But the federal report suggests that most states have similar problems.

Seven of the 14 federal standards focus on the safety and well-being of children, including the incidence of abuse and neglect, the time they spend in foster care and the stability of their living arrangements.

Federal officials said 16 states did not meet any of the seven standards. These states were Alaska, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Wade F. Horn, the assistant secretary of health and human services supervising the reviews, said the findings were "a little surprising."

"We set the bar high on purpose," Dr. Horn said. "We want states to improve. Kids in the child welfare system deserve better than a minimal standard of care."

Dr. Horn said that no state met one particularly important standard, which says children should have "permanency and stability in their living situations." That means, for example, that children should not bounce in and out of foster care, or from foster home to foster home.

The federal report was based on a review of state data and case files, as well as interviews with children, their biological parents, foster and adoptive parents, social workers and juvenile and family court judges.

Federal officials repeatedly cited states for certain deficiencies: significant numbers of children suffering abuse or neglect more than once in a six-month period; caseworkers not visiting children often enough to assess their needs; and not providing promised medical and mental health services.

States did somewhat better on the other standards, used to assess their policies and procedures, the training of caseworkers and the use of computers to keep track of children.

Many state officials said they generally agreed with the findings.

"Some people say that the federal government is picking on states or that the standards are not attainable, but we believe it's essential to shoot for these goals," said Roger A. Munns, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services.

Just this month the comptroller of Texas, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, issued a report on the state's foster care system that was more negative than the federal review.

"Some of these children are no better off in the care of the state than they were in the hands of abusive and negligent parents," said Ms. Strayhorn, a Republican. "Some children have been moved among 30 or 40 temporary homes. Some have been sexually, physically and emotionally abused while in the system. A few have even died at the hands of those entrusted with their care."

Msgr. Kevin L. Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of New York, which provides foster care for more than 7,000 children, said, "We are talking about children who have been burned, beaten and starved."

In 30 percent of the cases reviewed in Oklahoma, federal investigators said, the child welfare agency did not respond quickly to reports of abuse and neglect. In Louisiana, the comparable figure was 31 percent, and in Montana, 37 percent.

The federal government provides $7 billion a year to states for foster care, adoption assistance and other child welfare programs. If states do not correct the deficiencies, they stand to lose some of the money.

Penalties are estimated at $18.2 million for California, $3.6 million for Florida, $3.5 million for Texas, $3 million for Pennsylvania, $2.5 million each for Ohio and Michigan, and $2.3 million for New York.

Mary J. Nelson, president of the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, expressed concern about penalties.

"States need to invest more money in foster care and child protection," Ms. Nelson said. "So the idea of having fewer resources does not strike me or most states as particularly helpful."

States will be re-evaluated periodically. Federal officials said they would suspend the penalties if states developed plans of correction and made substantial progress.

"The goal here is not to impose financial penalties," Dr. Horn said. "The goal is to improve child welfare."

In Indiana, where at least 51 children died from abuse and neglect last year, Gov. Joseph E. Kernan, a Democrat, summoned experts at the Child Welfare League of America, a nonprofit group, to evaluate the state's program and recommend improvements.

Many states said they did not have enough caseworkers to investigate reports of abuse or to monitor children in foster care. They have difficulty recruiting and retaining workers because salaries are often low. But some states, grappling with what they describe as their worst fiscal problems in more than 50 years, have cut spending for some child welfare services.

Representative Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, has introduced a bill that would provide $500 million to states to improve child welfare services in the next five years. Some of the money would reward states for correcting problems identified by the federal government.

President Bush has proposed giving states grants to run their foster care programs in the next five years. States would have broad discretion in deciding how to use the money.

But Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, said, "It would be foolhardy to award states a block grant like that at a time when they cannot meet the specific mandates in current law."

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