MORE CALLS NEEDED to OPPOSE E2SSB 5943 - Child Welfare Privatization

WHOLESALE CONTRACTING OF CHILD WELFARE SERVICES IS NOT A SOLUTION.

UPDATE: 3/12/09******* The bill has passed the Senate and is moving to the House, call your Representatives ask them to oppose E2SSB 5943!

"Please oppose SB 5943, the bill to privatize Child Welfare Services. It leaves a lot of unanswered questions while requiring vacancies not be filled. The bill actually increases costs and doesn't improve outcomes for kids.

Please vote no on SB 5943."

1. The Bill Doesn't Work. It mandates that the Department not fill vacancies and begin contracting out immediately - BEFORE the transition committee even has a chance to figure out how to make this concept work. It also mandates the state is the agency of last resort; so while frontline workers are laid off, the administration would remain in place in case a contract fails.

2. The Bill Will Increase Costs. It will cost millions as we dismantle existing systems and create contract compliance systems. Liability remains with the state. Federal dollars are at risk. Hundreds of middle-class jobs with health care and pensions will be replaced by lower-wage workers who frequently have no benefits.

3. The Bill Does Not Solve the Problem. Public sector CWS has been understaffed and under-funded for decades. Private performance-based contracting will not solve that problem, but rather exchanges one set of problems for another with greater costs and higher risk.

4. The Bill Will Not Produce Better Outcomes. The case has not been made that the private sector can do a better job of protecting children. Jurisdictions that have privatized CWS have been plagued with the same workload, turnover and recruitment problems.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: OPPOSE SSB 5943 - Child Welfare Privatization

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

WHOLESALE CONTRACTING OF CHILD WELFARE SERVICES IS NOT A SOLUTION.

Please oppose SB 5943, the bill to privatize Child Welfare Services. It leaves a lot of unanswered questions while requiring vacancies not be filled. The bill actually increases costs and doesn't improve outcomes for kids.

Please vote no on SB 5943.

1. The Bill Doesn't Work. It mandates that the Department not fill vacancies and begin contracting out immediately - BEFORE the transition committee even has a chance to figure out how to make this concept work. It also mandates the state is the agency of last resort; so while frontline workers are laid off, the administration would remain in place in case a contract fails.

2. The Bill Will Increase Costs. It will cost millions as we dismantle existing systems and create contract compliance systems. Liability remains with the state. Federal dollars are at risk. Hundreds of middle-class jobs with health care and pensions will be replaced by lower-wage workers who frequently have no benefits.

3. The Bill Does Not Solve the Problem. Public sector CWS has been understaffed and under-funded for decades. Private performance-based contracting will not solve that problem, but rather exchanges one set of problems for another with greater costs and higher risk.

4. The Bill Will Not Produce Better Outcomes. The case has not been made that the private sector can do a better job of protecting children. Jurisdictions that have privatized CWS have been plagued with the same workload, turnover and recruitment problems.

I urge you to oppose E2SSB 5943.

Thank you. I respectively request a response.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 12, 2009


Background Information

FACT SHEET: Analysis of SSB 5943 Presented by: Washington Federation of State Employees February 2009

1. There is no evidence that privatizing child welfare services reduces costs: The cost of moving from a public sector delivery model to a private sector delivery model in an either/or proposition such as Kansas, Milwaukee, and Florida have not only failed to reduce service cost, but have resulted in cost escalation.

An Assessment of Privatization of Child Welfare Services:

Challenges and Successes, written by Madelyn Freundlich and Sarah Gerstenzang revealed mixed results. By examining initiatives in other jurisdictions the authors cited a number of lessons learned including:

  • Public agencies should not expect cost savings from privatization.

  • Greater efficiency will not be achieved simply because a private agency assumes responsibility for service provision.

    2. Privatization does not result in better quality services: On February 27, 2008 the Florida Office of Inspector General released their internal audit for FY 2007-2008. The report cited cases of fraud by contracted case managers on home visits in several areas including only contacting clients by phone, leaving a business card when no one was home and forging signatures of caregivers, children and supervisors. During the interviews supervisors commented that some case managers chose to perform their jobs incorrectly by using shortcuts giving the appearance home visits were conducted appropriately.

    3. Privatization has failed to solve the problems that plague the child welfare system: The State of Texas Center for Public Policy reported that failing to solve the problems of caseworker turnover, heavy caseloads, and inadequate resources for services to families puts the objective of child protection seriously at risk.

    4. Privatization models are still transitioning to find success: In December 2008, it was announced in Milwaukee that an $11 million contract with La Causa would be cancelled. This is an agency that contracts for case management and safety services. The cancellation comes on the heels of a child fatality in kinship care after multiple visitations by the caseworker and a year after the drowning death of a 5 month old left in the care of his mother shortly after the contracted caseworker left. Now the child welfare agency is left to transition the work contracted from the contractor.

    5. Performance Based Governance can work in either public or private sectors: When there's an incentive to achieve a result, the result will be achieved regardless of whether the result was the right thing to do in that particular case. Goals that reward what's best in each situation must be carefully crafted.

    The analysis of successful privatization models in other jurisdictions demonstrates that such models included a change in the governance model along with the service delivery model. We believe that the public sector would also be successful under a governance model shift and look to successes in the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) as a comparison. The fact that resources on the front line are sorely needed to solve the problem in both public and private models of large caseloads, burn out and inexperienced recruitment remains unaddressed by SSB 5943.