More than 800 Maryland children who were abused or neglected during the past year may have been left in their homes without proper help and oversight, according to a new report from a welfare advocacy group.
Maryland’s Department of Human Resources saw a 23 percent decrease in the number of foster care placements during the past year and a 10 percent reduction in the number of children receiving in-home services.
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The figures, outlined in a report to be released Wednesday by Advocates for Children and Youth, mean hundreds of maltreated children may have been left in homes without help, said the organization’s director, Matthew Joseph.
“That’s a significant risk to the children and significant risk to the reality of real reform,” Joseph said. “Many children can be left in homes or placed with relatives, but they need to have ongoing, in-home services for it to be done safely.”
DHR, the state’s social services provider, released new data Monday showing a 10 percent reduction in the number of children in its care since July 2007.
In a written statement, Secretary Brenda Donald attributed the decrease to a new “family-centered” practice to keep maltreated children in their homes as long as it is safe.
“In the past, we had a knee-jerk reaction to bring children into foster care without developing a fuller cadre of people willing to help,” said Nancy Lineman, a department spokeswoman. “We are evaluating the risk a child is in.”
Suspected maltreatment does not always require foster care or in-home services. When abuse is suspected, Maryland case workers now are convening a “family involvement” meeting and relying on extended family members to discuss future care, Lineman said.
In her statement, Donald said the number of children in group homes has decreased by nearly 36 percent since July 2007. Adoptions are up and the number of foster homes has increased nearly 7 percent, she said.
Donald acknowledged data anomalies and “skeptics” that wonder how the number of youths coming into the state’s care can decrease while the number of abuse and neglect findings remains flat.
“For people who don’t actually do this work, our data analysis and trends can be particularly complicated because of the dynamic and complex nature of our work,” she said.
