DCFS Can Do Better
	Working for a Kinder, Gentler, Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services If you have reason to suspect that a child you know is being abused, please call the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-482-5964.  Don't stop until you get an answer.

Still Waiting For Information

We have been in contact with DCFS and MidSOUTH and are still awaiting additional information which we would like to get and post on our web site for the people of Arkansas.  If you have any pull with them, we would appreciate whatever you can do to get this information for us.

• In 2002, DCFS made 6,471 placements of children into foster care (339 were placed more than once).  However, we don't quite understand that figure, since there were only 5,736 cases of abuse and neglect determined to be true, out of 18,541 reports.  We are currently trying to get clarification from DCFS on what the possibility is that your child will be removed from your home when your child is the subject of a DCFS child maltreatment allegation investigation.  So, when DCFS can figure that out and let us know, we will post that probability on our web site to let you know as well.
• MidSOUTH has a 10-week new case worker training course for DCFS employees.  We would like to get a copy of the handouts, checklists, manuals, and other training material used in that course, along with the list of web sites referenced in that course, so that we can post the relevant portions of that material on our web site for you to reference and to see what the case workers are taught, which would give you a better understanding of the child maltreatment investigation process in Arkansas.  MidSOUTH says that DCFS has that material in an electronic format, so, DCFS could copy it to a CD and send it to us.
• For MidSOUTH's 10-week new case worker training course, we would also like to get an outline of that course and to know how much time is spent on each segment of that course.  For example, if they have a segment covering how to interview children, how many days do they devote to learning appropriate interviewing techniques?
• We are hoping that this web site will be a cooperative effort between us as citizens of Arkansas and DCFS in discussing issues related to child maltreatment investigations.  As such, we would welcome input from DCFS with their viewpoints on issues advocated by CAKiD and presented on our web site, and would be glad to post any comments or discussions from DCFS that they would send us on these issues.  This would not only help you see the pro's and con's of these ideas, but, would also show us where we need sharpen our ideas when DCFS has a point that we hadn't considered.  We are also hoping for comments and information from DCFS that would clear up misconceptions about DCFS and the investigative process and allay your fears of DCFS, which would lead to better cooperation between DCFS and the public in protecting our children.

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CAKiD - Working for a kinder, gentler, DCFS.